Surface high pressure associated with a cold front spread south across Texas during the first week of January. Several locations experienced temperatures at freezing or below during the early morning hours of January 3rd, primarily in wind protected areas of the King Ranch (Kenedy/Brooks) and Zapata County.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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 BRO wrote it up.
Surface high pressure associated with a cold front spread south across Texas during the first week of January. Several locations experienced temperatures at freezing or below during the early morning hours of January 3rd, primarily in wind protected areas of the King Ranch (Kenedy/Brooks) and Zapata County. Temperatures remained just above freezing in Jim Hogg County, and touched freezing in Starr County.
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 Brownsville, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 2, 5:33 PM CST, 8 hours 2 minutes earlier.
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Service Notice</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
<main class="wrap">
<section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
<div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
<h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
<p id="message1">
The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
</p>
<p id="message2">
Please try again in a few minutes.
</p>
<p class="small" id="detail">
If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
</p>
</section>
</main>
<script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 225 PM CST MON JAN 2 2012 GMZ130-132-135-150-155-170-175-031115- LAGUNA MADRE FROM THE PORT OF BROWNSVILLE TO THE ARROYO COLORADO- LAGUNA MADRE FROM THE ARROYO COLORADO TO 5 NM NORTH OF PORT MANSFIELD TX- LAGUNA MADRE FROM 5 NM NORTH OF PORT MANSFIELD TO BAFFIN BAY TX- COASTAL WATERS FROM PORT MANSFIELD TO THE RIO GRANDE OUT 20 NM- COASTAL WATERS FROM BAFFIN BAY TO PORT MANSFIELD OUT 20 NM- WATERS FROM PORT MANSFIELD TO THE RIO GRANDE EXTENDING FROM 20 TO 60 NM- WATERS FROM BAFFIN BAY TO PORT MANSFIELD EXTENDING FROM 20 TO 60 NM- 225 PM CST MON JAN 2 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE GULF OF MEXICO AND THE LAGUNA MADRE. .DAY ONE...REST OF TODAY AND TONIGHT. A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE GULF WATERS THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR WINDS AROUND 20 KNOTS AND SEAS OF 7 TO 9 FEET. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. TXZ248>257-031115- ZAPATA-JIM HOGG-BROOKS-KENEDY-STARR-HIDALGO-INLAND WILLACY- INLAND CAMERON-COASTAL WILLACY-COASTAL CAMERON- 225 PM CST MON JAN 2 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR DEEP SOUTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE...REST OF TODAY AND TONIGHT. A FREEZE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FROM 3 AM TO 7 AM TUESDAY FOR BROOKS...JIM HOGG...ZAPATA AND KENEDY COUNTIES. THERE IS A HIGH RISK FOR RIP CURRENTS AT AREA BEACHES TODAY AND TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. A FREEZE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FROM 3 AM TO 7 AM TUESDAY FOR BROOKS...JIM HOGG...ZAPATA AND KENEDY COUNTIES. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 frost/freeze. Local standard time, as filed.
Temperatures fell to 32 degrees around 130 am and continued falling to around 30 degrees across Zapata County before rising above 32 degrees at 735 am. Minimum temperatures dropped to 30 degrees at the Falcon Lake RAWS site.
Temperatures fell to 27F between 6 and 8 AM at the Hollywood Hunting Camp west of Falfurrias during the morning of the 3rd. Shortly after midnight, the more protected Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge at Linn/San Manuel fell below freezing and bottomed out at 27F also; this proxy indicates rural areas of Brooks County likely fell below freezing for a little less than 6 hours.
Temperatures fell to 31F between 6 and 8 AM at the Lebh Shomea retreat near Sarita s during the morning of the 3rd, and dropped to 28F, probably a bit earlier, at Armstrong. Shortly after midnight, the more protected Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge at Linn/San Manuel fell below freezing and bottomed out at 27F also; this proxy indicates the remainder of inland Kenedy County likely fell below freezing for a little less than 6 hours.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, January 2012
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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 353670, 363671, 363673.