Torrential rains from strong to severe thunderstorms finally put a dent in drought conditions across the Rio Grande Valley and Deep South Texas. 37 inches of rainfall, and setting a daily rainfall record.
Every event with a place to put it; 8 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.
Torrential rains from strong to severe thunderstorms finally put a dent in drought conditions across the Rio Grande Valley and Deep South Texas. An estimated 4 to 6 inches of rain fell on the night of March 29th in Hidalgo County, with McAllen International Airport receiving 4.37 inches of rainfall, and setting a daily rainfall record. Initial storms developed across the King Ranch of Kenedy County during the mid-afternoon hours of March 29th and spread west into northern Hidalgo and Starr counties by early evening.
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 Mar 26, 11:53 PM CST, 7 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 1253 AM CDT TUE MAR 27 2012 .DISCUSSION...UPDATED FOR LATEST AVIATION DISCUSSION BELOW. && .AVIATION...CURRENT SURFACE OBSERVATIONS AND SATELLITE IMAGERY INDICATE THAT STRATUS IS DEVELOPING ACROSS THE AREA EARLY THIS MORNING. MVFR CEILINGS CURRENTLY OVER THE WESTERN PORTIONS OVER DEEP SOUTH TEXAS ARE EXPECTED SPREAD OVER ALL TAF SITES BY 10Z TUESDAY RESULTING IN MVFR TO IFR CONDITIONS. LIGHT FOG WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE AREA THIS MORNING BUT VISIBILITIES ARE NOT EXPECTED TO DROP BELOW 2 MILES ACROSS THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY. STRATUS WILL BEGIN TO MIX OUT BY MID TO LATE MORNING WITH MVFR CEILINGS BECOMING VFR BY 17Z TUESDAY. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 657 PM CDT MON MAR 26 2012/ DISCUSSION...UPDATED FOR LATEST AVIATION DISCUSSION BELOW. AVIATION...AFTERNOON CU FIELD TO CONTINUE DISSIPATING AS DAYTIME HEATING CONTINUES TO CEASE. VFR CONDITIONS TO PREVAIL MUCH OF THE EARLY EVENING BEFORE STRATUS REDEVELOPS AROUND MIDNIGHT PRODUCING MVFR TO TEMPO IFR CONDITIONS. FOG WILL BE LIMITED AND LIGHT WITH VSBY NOT EXPECTED TO DROP BELOW 2 MILES ACROSS THE REGIONAL AIRPORTS AND NOT MORE THEN 1 MILE FARTHER NORTH. WINDS ABOVE THE SURFACE TO REMAIN STRONG ENOUGH TO KEEP DENSE FOG LIMITED. STRATUS TO MIX OUT MID TO LATE MORNING WITH MVFR TO VFR SKIES TUESDAY. PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 433 PM CDT MON MAR 26 2012/ SHORT TERM /TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT/...500MB RIDGE ACROSS EAST TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON WILL MOVE SLOWLY EASTWARD AND FLATTEN ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST UNITED STATES TUESDAY INTO TUES NIGHT. LOW TO MID LEVEL MOISTURE IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE ACROSS NORTHEAST MEXICO EXTENDING INTO WEST TX AS MOISTURE OVER NORTHERN MEXICO MOVES NORTHWARD. SOME CONVECTION WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE MEXICAN PLATEAU TUESDAY INTO TUES NIGHT AND SOME OF THESE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MAY MOVE EASTWARD TOWARDS THE EXTREME WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE CWA. WILL CONTINUE TO MENTION A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN ACROSS THE UPPER PORTIONS OF THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY TUES AFTERNOON INTO TUES NIGHT AS A RESULT. BELIEVE WINDS WILL DIMINISH ENOUGH TONIGHT FOR PATCHY FOG TO DEVELOP ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE RIO GRANDE PLAINS LATE TONIGHT INTO EARLY TUESDAY. /61/ LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... A WEAK SHORTWAVE MOVING EAST FROM BAJA CA OVER NORTHERN MEXICO WILL PUSH INTO TEXAS WEDNESDAY. A DEEP MOISTURE SURGE FROM THE GULF WILL ENHANCE SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE VALLEY. KEPT 20 TO 30 PERCENT POPS THAT WERE INHERITED FROM PREVIOUS SHIFT. MODELS ARE TRENDING FOR HIGHER POPS FOR THE LAST FEW RUNS FOR WEDNESDAY. LOWERED HIGH TEMPERATURES A FEW DEGREES...WITH THE HIGHS RANGING IN THE MID 80S ACROSS THE VALLEY. THIS TROUGH EXITS THE STATE LATE FRIDAY...ALLOWING WEAK RIDGING TO BUILD OVER THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. A SECOND UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM DEVELOPS OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND GRADUALLY DEEPENS AND MIGRATES EASTWARD. GFS/ECMWF ARE IN BETTER AGREEMENT AT THIS TIME WITH THIS SYSTEM WITH THE EXCEPTION OF TIMING. ECMWF IS A SLOWER THAN GFS IT ALSO DEEPENS QUICKLY ALONG THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE. BOTH MODELS AREA DEPICTING A STRONG FRONTAL PASSAGE BY THE BEGINNING OF NEXT WEEK. /67/ MARINE... TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT...SEAS WERE NEAR 2 FEET WITH SOUTHEAST WINDS NEAR 10 KNOTS AT BUOY020 EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. LIGHT TO MODERATE SOUTHEAST WINDS WILL PREVAIL ACROSS THE COASTAL WATERS TONIGHT INTO TUESDAY WITH HIGH PRESSURE ACROSS SETTLING ACROSS THE EASTERN U.S. COAST TUESDAY. /61/ WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY..LIGHT SOUTHEAST FLOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE REST OF THE WEEK. SEAS WILL REMAIN BETWEEN 2 TO 4 FEET. THIS WILL MAINTAIN LOW GULF SWELLS LIGHT CHOP ON THE BAY WATERS. NO SCA CONDITIONS EXPECTED THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. /67/ && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BAYVIEW/PORT ISABEL 69 80 70 80 / 10 10 10 30 BROWNSVILLE 68 81 69 82 / 10 10 20 30 HARLINGEN 67 82 68 83 / 10 10 20 30 MCALLEN 70 84 69 86 / 20 20 20 30 RIO GRANDE CITY 69 86 69 85 / 20 20 20 30 SOUTH PADRE ISLAND 70 78 69 78 / 10 10 10 20 && .BRO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...NONE. GM...NONE. && THIS PRODUCT IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON THE WEB AT: HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/RGV 63
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 947 AM CDT MON MAR 26 2012 GMZ130-132-135-150-155-170-175-271500- 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- 947 AM CDT MON MAR 26 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE GULF OF MEXICO AND THE LAGUNA MADRE. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .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>257-271500- ZAPATA-JIM HOGG-BROOKS-KENEDY-STARR-HIDALGO-INLAND WILLACY- INLAND CAMERON-COASTAL WILLACY-COASTAL CAMERON- 947 AM CDT MON MAR 26 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR DEEP SOUTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. CASTILLO
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
10 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Although the greatest rainfall occurred south of the county, some improvement in drought conditions occurred in the SW corner of the county, where drought conditions went from Extreme (D3) to Severe (D2) conditions. The remainder of the county continued in Extreme (D3) conditions.
Although showers and thunderstorms developed over the county on March 29th, drought conditions did not improve. The NE corner of the county would remain in Exceptional (D4) drought conditions, while the remainder of the county would continue in Extreme (D3) drought.
Although showers and thunderstorms were in the region on March 29th, drought conditions did not improve. The entire county remained engulfed in Extreme (D3) drought conditions.
Torrential rains on March 29th allowed for great improvement in drought conditions across Hidalgo County. The western two-thirds of the county improved from Extreme (D3) drought conditions to Severe (D2) conditions, while the eastern third remained in Extreme (D3) conditions.
Though Starr County did not see the greatest amount of rainfall, the county did receive enough rainfall to allow for improvement in drought conditions across the western half of the county to (D0) conditions and the eastern half of the county to (D1) conditions.
Rainfall during the last few days of the month resulted in improvement in the western and southern portions of county from Extreme (D3) drought conditions to Severe (D2) drought conditions. The remainder of the county continued on in Extreme (D3) conditions.
Despite rainfall in the region, Cameron County did not benefit greatly from it. The entire county continued on in Extreme (D3) conditions.
Rainfall at the end of the month allowed for approximately 80% of the county to improve from Extreme (D3) drought to Severe (D2) drought conditions, except for tiny slivers along the northern edge of the county and the NW corner which remained in Extreme (D3) conditions and a sliver along the southern edge of the county that has improved to (D1) drought conditions.
Although showers and thunderstorms were in the region on March 29th, drought conditions did not improve. The entire county remained engulfed in Extreme (D3) drought conditions.
No improvement in drought conditions were seen in coastal Cameron County. The entire area would remain in Extreme (D3) drought conditions.
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, March 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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 373275, 373276, 373277, 373278, 373279, 373281, 373282, 373283, 373692, 373693.