Surface high pressure over the Gulf of Mexico caused southeasterly winds in South Central Texas which brought warm, moist air to the region. High temperatures were well above normal in the middle 80s.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS EWX wrote it up.
Surface high pressure over the Gulf of Mexico caused southeasterly winds in South Central Texas which brought warm, moist air to the region. High temperatures were well above normal in the middle 80s.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 8, 3:12 PM CST, 1 hour 48 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 312 PM CST TUE MAR 8 2011 .DISCUSSION... WEST..NORTHWEST FLOW WILL GRADUALLY MIX DOWN TO THE SURFACE BY LATE AFTERNOON WITH THE DRY LINE COMING TO A HALT ALONG THE I-35 CORRIDOR. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS EXISTS TONIGHT ALONG THE DRY AIR INTERFACE GENERALLY EAST OF THE CORRIDOR. CANNOT COMPLETELY RULE OUT CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT LATE TONIGHT WHEN THE COLD FRONT PUSHES THROUGH THE AREA...ALTHOUGH THINK IT WILL BE FAIRLY CAPPED OFF BY THEN. AS THE DRY SURFACE RIDGE BUILDS INTO THE AREA WEDNESDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES WILL PREVAIL WITH MILD TO WARM AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES. THE DRY RIDGE WILL SETTLE OVER THE AREA WEDNESDAY NIGHT WITH CLEAR SKIES AND LIGHT TO CALM WINDS PRODUCING A GOOD RADIATIONAL COOLING NIGHT. LOWS WILL BE MOSTLY IN THE 30S WITH 40S ALONG THE RIO GRANDE PLAINS AND COASTAL PRAIRIES SECTION. RETURN SOUTHERLY FLOW IN A PROGRESSIVE FLOW PATTERN WILL SEND READINGS BACK INTO THE 70S ON THURSDAY. WINDS WILL DECOUPLE AND DIMINISH AT THE SURFACE UNDER MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES. LOWS THURSDAY NIGHT WILL BE MOSTLY IN THE 40S. SOUTHERLY FLOW CONTINUES FRIDAY WITH HIGHS RANGING FROM THE UPPER 70S MOST AREAS TO MID 80S EXTREME SOUTHWEST. INCREASING CLOUDINESS SATURDAY WITH WEAK DISTURBANCES IN ZONAL FLOW ALOFT. CONTINUED MOISTURE BUILDUP ON SUNDAY COMBINED WITH WEAK DISTURBANCES IN THE SUBTROPICAL JET MAY PRODUCE A FEW SHOWERS AND MAYBE EVEN AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM OR TWO SUNDAY AFTERNOON. MILD SUNDAY WITH HIGHS IN THE 70S. A WEAK RIDGE ALOFT WILL APPROACH THE AREA FROM THE WEST EARLY MONDAY WITH CONVERGENT NORTHWEST FLOW TYPE THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A WEAK FRONT SLIDING INTO THE AREA DURING THE DAY ON MONDAY. NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL WEAKEN NEXT TUESDAY AS THE WEAK UPPER TROUGH PUSHES EAST OF THE REGION...BUT CONTINUED UPSLOPE FLOW ALONG THE RIO GRANDE PLAINS COULD GENERATE A FEW THUNDERSTORMS. FIRE WEATHER... ELEVATED TO NEAR CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS FOR WILDFIRE SPREAD BOTH TOMORROW AND THURSDAY AFTERNOONS GENERALLY WEST OF A LINE FROM GEORGETOWN TO SAN ANTONIO TO CATARINA. DRY AIR COMBINED WITH NORTHERLY FLOW NEAR 10 MPH BEHIND A COLD FRONT WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON WILL LEAD TO THE CONDITIONS WHILE ON THURSDAY AFTERNOON...CONTINUED VERY LOW HUMIDITIES IN RETURN SOUTHERLY FLOW OF 5 TO 10 MPH WILL RESULT IN ELEVATED CONDITIONS AS WELL. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... AUSTIN CAMP MABRY 49 72 43 77 46 / - - 0 0 0 AUSTIN BERGSTROM INTL AIRPORT 44 72 34 75 38 / - - 0 0 0 NEW BRAUNFELS MUNI AIRPORT 49 75 38 78 43 / - - 0 0 0 BURNET MUNI AIRPORT 46 71 41 74 45 / - - 0 0 0 DEL RIO INTL AIRPORT 51 78 46 78 48 / - - 0 - 0 GEORGETOWN MUNI AIRPORT 47 70 42 75 45 / - - 0 0 0 HONDO MUNI AIRPORT 47 76 36 77 41 / - - 0 0 - SAN MARCOS MUNI AIRPORT 49 74 38 76 43 / - - 0 0 0 LA GRANGE - FAYETTE REGIONAL 52 71 42 73 45 / 20 - 0 - - SAN ANTONIO INTL AIRPORT 49 75 42 77 45 / - - 0 0 - STINSON MUNI AIRPORT 49 76 40 78 43 / - - 0 0 - && .EWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && MESOSCALE/AVIATION...22 SYNOPTIC/GRIDS...02 PUBLIC SERVICE/DATA COLLECTION...32
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 426 AM CST TUE MAR 8 2011 TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-091030- LLANO-BURNET-WILLIAMSON-VAL VERDE-EDWARDS-REAL-KERR-BANDERA- GILLESPIE-KENDALL-BLANCO-HAYS-TRAVIS-BASTROP-LEE-KINNEY-UVALDE- MEDINA-BEXAR-COMAL-GUADALUPE-CALDWELL-FAYETTE-MAVERICK-ZAVALA- FRIO-ATASCOSA-WILSON-KARNES-GONZALES-DE WITT-LAVACA-DIMMIT- 426 AM CST TUE MAR 8 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT... THE DRY LINE WILL MOVE INTO THE NORTHERN RIO GRANDE PLAINS AND HILL COUNTRY THIS AFTERNOON...BRINGING VERY LOW HUMIDITY AND GUSTY WEST TO SOUTHWEST WINDS. CONDITIONS WILL BE NEAR CRITICAL FOR THE SPREAD OF WILDFIRES. ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP BY MID-AFTERNOON OVER THE NORTHERN HILL COUNTRY AND PLAINS FROM AUSTIN EASTWARD. ONE OR TWO OF THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE NON-SEVERE SMALL HAIL OR GUSTY WINDS UP TO 40 MPH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY... NEAR CRITICAL CONDITIONS FOR THE SPREAD OF WILDFIRES WILL CONTINUE FOR LOCATIONS ALONG AND WEST OF INTERSTATE 35 ON WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...AS VERY DRY AIR REMAINS IN PLACE ACROSS THE AREA. ANOTHER UPPER TROUGH AND FRONT WILL CROSS THE AREA ON MONDAY... BRINGING A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. AT THIS TIME IT APPEARS THERE WILL BE LITTLE OR NO THREAT FOR SEVERE STORMS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
A 6 month old girl was found dead in a car in New Braunfels. News reports stated that she had been accidentally left in the car for nine hours before being discovered. The high temperature at the New Braunfels Airport was 84 degrees and the heat index was about the same.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heat, Comal | 2011-03-08 | 0 | Female | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Indirect |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, March 2011
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 281968.