Continued rain-free and relatively dry weather across portions of the Upper Rio Grande Valley worsened drought conditions across much of Starr County, Texas, just prior to Thanksgiving Weekend.
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 BRO wrote it up.
Continued rain-free and relatively dry weather across portions of the Upper Rio Grande Valley worsened drought conditions across much of Starr County, Texas, just prior to Thanksgiving Weekend.
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 Nov 19, 11:48 PM CST, 12 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 1148 PM CST MON NOV 19 2012 .DISCUSSION...UPDATED FOR LATEST AVIATION DISCUSSION BELOW. && .AVIATION...HIGH CLOUDS WILL STREAM ACROSS THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY THROUGH THE NIGHT WITH LIGHT TO CALM EASTERLY WINDS WHICH WILL ALLOW FOR A LAYER OF LOW CLOUDS TO DEVELOP. LEFT INHERITED TEMPO GROUP AS GUIDANCE CONTINUES TO SHOW FOG IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS WITH INVERSION BETWEEN 5 TO 7000 FEET. EASTERLY WINDS WILL REMAIN THROUGH THE DAY TOMORROW WITH A FEW GUSTS IN THE AFTERNOON. EXPECT HIGH PRESSURE TO EXPAND ACROSS THE GULF WHICH WILL KEEP THE VALLEY UNDER EASTERLY WINDS FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 554 PM CST MON NOV 19 2012/ DISCUSSION...UPDATED FOR LATEST AVIATION DISCUSSION BELOW. AVIATION...STRATOCUMULUS DECK IS STEADILY RETREATING WESTWARD AND SHOULD MOVE WEST OF HIGHWAY 281 BY 03Z BUT NOT LIKELY TO RETREAT INTO MEXICO AS WAS THE CASE LAST NIGHT. INVERSION REMAINS BETWEEN 5 AND 7000 FEET WITH VFR BKN-OVC DECK ANTICIPATED TO SPREAD BACK EASTWARD OVERNIGHT TOWARDS DAYBREAK. WHERE SKIES TEMPORARILY CLEAR FOR A FEW HOURS LIGHT PATCHY FOG MAY FOR REDUCING VSBY TO MVFR. LIGHT EAST TO SOUTHEAST WINDS OVERNIGHT. PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 137 PM CST MON NOV 19 2012/ SHORT TERM /TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT/...LATEST SATELLITE IMAGERY REVEALS SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE MOVING EAST ACROSS NORTHERN MEXICO AND WEST TEXAS AND THEN EXTENDING NORTH INTO A MID LEVEL TROUGH MOVING ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND NORTHERN PLAINS. A COLD FRONT LIES AT THE SURFACE BELOW THE PLAINS TROUGH...BUT DOES NOT EXTEND VERY FAR SOUTH INTO TEXAS. INSTEAD...LOW LEVEL MOISTURE IS FEEDING INTO THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO AND IS KEEPING MOSTLY CLOUDY TO OVERCAST SKIES IN PLACE UNDER AN ELEVATED CAPPING INVERSION...AND LATER UNDER AN ISOTHERMAL LAYER. LOW CLOUDS MAY THIN A BIT ON TUESDAY...ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE NORTH AND EAST...WITH SOME PEEKS OF SUN POSSIBLE. OTHERWISE A RELATIVELY QUIET FORECAST ON TAP WITH LIGHT TO MODERATE ONSHORE WINDS AND TEMPERATURES RUNNING A FEW TO SEVERAL DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL...WHICH GUIDANCE REFLECTS FAIRLY WELL. RAIN CHANCES REMAIN MINIMAL. LONG TERM /THANKSGIVING WEEKEND/...THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND BEGINS WEDNESDAY WITH H5 RIDGE CONTINUING TO STRETCH NORTHWARD ACROSS CENTRAL TEXAS. WEDNESDAY SHOULD BE A FINE TRAVEL DAY LOCALLY WITH HIGHS IN THE 80S AND NO RAIN EXPECTED. THE NEXT SHORTWAVE WILL EJECT INTO WEST TEXAS WEDNESDAY NIGHT...SPREADING MORE HIGH CIRRUS ACROSS TEXAS. IT WILL ALSO FLATTEN THE RIDGE AND PUSH IT FURTHER EAST. AT THE SFC...HIGH PRESSURE ACROSS THE NORTHERN GULF WILL PUSH A LARGE AREA OF MOIST GULF AIR INTO SOUTH TEXAS STARTING LATE THANKSGIVING DAY. PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES ARE NOTED TO REACH 1.75 INCHES...WHICH IS APPROACHING THE 90TH PERCENTILE HISTORICALLY. INCREASING RAIN CHANCES SHOULD HOLD OFF UNTIL THURSDAY NIGHT AS MOISTURE FOCUSING WON/T BEGIN UNTIL THE NEXT FRONT PUSHES INTO CENTRAL TEXAS. GENERAL ZONAL FLOW ALOFT FOR THE WEEKEND WILL HALT THE FORWARD PROGRESS OF THE FRONT SOMEWHERE TO THE NORTH. ALL THE MOISTURE FOCUSING WILL BRING GOOD CHANCES FOR RAIN FRIDAY WITH THE BEST CHANCES LOOKING LIKE SATURDAY...WHEN ANOTHER MIDLEVEL IMPULSE RACES ACROSS SOUTH TEXAS. MODELS ARE STILL DISAGREEING SOMEWHAT ON THE CHANCES FOR PRECIPITATION...BUT SIGNAL LOOKING MORE POSITIVE FOR RAINFALL. DEEPER CLOUD COVER FRIDAY AND SATURDAY WILL ALSO HOLD TEMPERATURES DOWN IN THE UPPER 70S FOR HIGHS. LINGERING RAIN AND SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE ON SUNDAY...MORESO TOWARDS THE NORTH AND EAST. MARINE... TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT...BROAD SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE NORTHWEST GULF AND THE TEXAS COAST WILL RESULT IN LIGHT TO MODERATE ONSHORE WINDS AND LOW SEAS IN THE SHORT TERM. LIGHT EAST SOUTHEAST WINDS WILL SHIFT TO EAST NORTHEAST AND INCREASE TO MODERATE TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT AS MID LEVEL RIDGING BUILDS EAST INTO THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY AND HIGH PRESSURE REINFORCES THE NORTHWEST GULF. WAVE HEIGHTS WILL REMAIN LOW AT AROUND TWO TO THREE FEET WITH LITTLE IF ANY CHANCE OF RAIN. WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...BROAD HIGH PRESSURE WILL REMAIN ANCHORED ACROSS THE FAR NORTHERN GULF...CONTINUING TO PROVIDE EAST AND SOUTHEAST FLOW FOR THE LATTER HALF OF THE WEEK. BREEZIER CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE LATE THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY AS THE NEXT FRONT APPROACHES...BUT IT IS EXPECTED TO SLOW DOWN WELL TO THE NORTH WITHOUT PROVIDING A WIND SHIFT UNTIL POSSIBLY ON SATURDAY. && .BRO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...NONE. GM...NONE. && THIS PRODUCT IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON THE WEB AT: HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/RGV 67/66
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 331 AM CST MON NOV 19 2012 TXZ248>257-200945- ZAPATA-JIM HOGG-BROOKS-KENEDY-STARR-HIDALGO-INLAND WILLACY- INLAND CAMERON-COASTAL WILLACY-COASTAL CAMERON- 331 AM CST MON NOV 19 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. AN ELEVATED RISK OF RIP CURRENTS POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. GMZ130-132-135-150-155-170-175-200945- 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- 331 AM CST MON NOV 19 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.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Severe (D2) Drought conditions across all but a sliver of western Starr County worsened to Extreme (D3) by November 20th, joining the small area of southeast Starr County, which had been among the worst impacted in the mid Rio Grande Valley.
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, November 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: 421572.