Late August rains across the region, did little to alleviate drought conditions across Starr and Jim Hogg counties. By the beginning of September, Exceptional (D4) drought conditions continued to surge across the counties, resulting in Exceptional (D4) and Extreme (D3) drought conditions prevailing across the two counties.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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.
Late August rains across the region, did little to alleviate drought conditions across Starr and Jim Hogg counties. By the beginning of September, Exceptional (D4) drought conditions continued to surge across the counties, resulting in Exceptional (D4) and Extreme (D3) drought conditions prevailing across the two counties.
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 Aug 31, 11:34 PM CST, 26 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 1234 AM CDT SUN SEP 1 2013 .DISCUSSION...UPDATED FOR LATEST AVIATION DISCUSSION BELOW. && .AVIATION...MID LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE TO MAINTAIN A STABLE AND DRY AIR MASS ACROSS SOUTH TEXAS PROVIDING VFR CONDITIONS. A WEAK MID LEVEL TROUGH TO MOVE INTO SOUTHEAST TEXAS LATE TODAY MAY LEAD TO AN ISOLATED SHOWER OVER THE COASTAL REACHES WITH MOST OF ACTIVITY LIKELY TO BE OFFSHORE. IN ANY CASE THEY WILL BE CIRCUMNAVIGABLE WITH ONLY ONE OR TWO EXPECTED AT MOST. SURFACE WINDS TO INCREASE SLIGHTLY IN THE AFTERNOON WITH SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST GUSTS UP TO 20 KNOTS. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 647 PM CDT SAT AUG 31 2013/ DISCUSSION...UPDATED FOR LATEST AVIATION DISCUSSION BELOW. AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH THE NEXT 24 HOURS AS HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT CONTINUES TO PROVIDE SUBSIDENCE ACROSS DEEP SOUTH TEXAS AND THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY. MODERATE SOUTHEAST WINDS WILL DECREASE AFTER SUNSET AND REMAIN LIGHT OVERNIGHT. WINDS WILL INCREASE BY MID MORNING SUNDAY AND BECOME MODERATE WITH GUSTS AROUND 20 KNOTS IN THE AFTERNOON. PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 315 PM CDT SAT AUG 31 2013/ SHORT TERM /TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY/...500MB HEIGHT CENTER REMAINS OVER NEW MEXICO THIS AFTERNOON WITH A RIDGE AXIS ACROSS CENTRAL TEXAS INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO. A WEAK SHORTWAVE CONTINUES SOUTHWARD ALONG THE EAST SIDE OF THE RIDGE AND WILL BE LOCATED ACROSS THE TEXAS COASTAL BEND BY SUNDAY NIGHT. WITH MOISTURE LACKING ACROSS DEEP SOUTH TEXAS...SHOWERS WILL BE HARD PRESSED TO DEVELOP OVER LAND WITH A FEW ISOLATED SHOWERS OVER THE COASTAL WATERS. WINDS WILL MAINLY BE FROM THE SOUTHEAST WITH HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO... A FEW GUSTS ARE ALSO EXPECTED SUNDAY WITH A SURFACE TROUGH EMERGING INTO NORTHERN TEXAS AND THE PRESSURE GRADIENT STRENGTHENS. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN AROUND NORMAL OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE. LONG TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY/...TWO FEATURES WILL DOMINATE THE LONGER RANGE CONDITIONS ACROSS DEEP SOUTH TX. THE FIRST IS A 500 MB TROUGH AXIS THAT WILL BE ROTATING AROUND THE EAST SIDE OF THE MEAN RIDGE AXIS CENTERED OVER THE SOUTH CENTRAL PLAINS AND THE SOUTHWESTERN STATES. THIS FEATURE WILL MOVE OVER THE AREA ON MON AND TUES AND WILL THEN EXIT THE REGION TO THE WEST ON WED. ALTHOUGH THIS FEATURE WILL HAVE SOMEWHAT LIMITED MOISTURE TO WORK WITH EARLY NEXT WEEK IT MAY ALLOW THE ATMS TO DESTABILIZE ENOUGH TO ALLOW SOME SEA BREEZE CONV TO FIRE. FOLLOWING ON THE HEELS OF THIS FEATURE...DEEPER TROPICAL MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH A TROPICAL WAVE NOW LOCATED OVER THE WESTERN HALF OF THE CARIB WILL START TO SPREAD WEST ACROSS THE SOUTHWESTERN GULF OF MEX AND WILL EDGE INTO DEEP SOUTH TX DURING THE LATTER HALF OF NEXT WEEK. LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE PRODUCE BY DAYTIME HEATING AND THE AFTERNOON SEA BREEZES WILL LIKELY PROVIDE ENOUGH LIFT TO HELP INITIATE MORE CONV AS THE MOISTURE LEVELS INCREASE. THE LATEST RUN OF THE GFS HAS BOOSTED UP THE POPS NEXT WEEK WHILE THE ECMWF IS MORE SCEPTICAL OF SERIOUS POPS WITH THE MODEL PLACING THE BULK OF THE DEEPER MOISTURE VALUES TO OUR SOUTH DUE TO A LITTLE STRONGER MID LEVEL RIDGING ANTICIPATED BY THE MODEL. OPTED TO GO WITH A BLEND OF THE GFS AND ECMWF POPS FOR THE EXTENDED RANGE PERIOD. WITH THE MID LEVEL TROUGH AXIS AND THE DEEPER TROPICAL MOISTURE ADVECTING UP FROM THE SOUTHWEST EXPECT THE HIGH TEMPS TO RELAX A FEW DEGREES DUE TO THE DECREASING 1000-500 MB THICKNESSES AND THE INCREASING CLD COVER. LEANED TOWARDS THE SLIGHTLY COOLER GFS MEX TEMPS. MODEL TO MODEL CONSISTENCY IS A LITTLE WORSE TODAY VERSUS YESTERDAY DUE TO THE SOUTHWARD SHIFT OF THE TROPICAL MOISTURE ADVECTION ADVERTISED BY THE ECMWF. RUN TO RUN CONSISTENCY WITH THE GFS MEX MOS TEMPS AND POPS IS STILL PRETTY GOOD. OVERALL FORECAST CONFIDENCE REMAINS ABOVE AVERAGE BUT A LITTLE LOWER THAN THE CONFIDENCE WITH YESTERDAYS MODEL RUNS. THE TROPICAL WAVE IN THE CARIB SEA HEADING THIS WAY IS NOT BEING DISCUSSED BY NHC AND LONGER RANGE MODEL GUIDANCE DOES NOT SHOW ANY CLOSED SURFACE LOW DEVELOPING FROM THIS FEATURE. SO THE TROPICAL CONCERNS WITH THIS APPROACHING SYSTEM APPEAR NIL AT THIS TIME. MARINE...TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY...SEAS WERE NEAR 1 FOOT WITH SOUTHEAST WINDS AROUND 6 KNOTS AT BUOY020 EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. LIGHT TO MODERATE SOUTHEAST WINDS WILL PREVAIL ACROSS THE COASTAL WATERS TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT AS WEAK HIGH PRESSURE ACROSS THE GULF OF MEXICO CONTINUES TO DOMINATE. SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY...BROAD SURFACE HIGH PREESURE WILL REMAIN IN CONTROL OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO AND THE GULF COAST REGION. THIS WILL MAINTAIN A FAIRLY WEAK PGF WITH A LIGHT TO MODERATE ONSHORE FLOW CONTINUING INTO NEXT WEEK. THIS WILL KEEP BOTH THE WINDS AND SEAS BELOW SCA LEVELS. && .BRO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...NONE. GM...NONE. && THIS PRODUCT IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON THE WEB AT: HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/RGV 59/51
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 432 AM CDT SAT AUG 31 2013 TXZ248>257-010945- ZAPATA-JIM HOGG-BROOKS-KENEDY-STARR-HIDALGO-INLAND WILLACY- INLAND CAMERON-COASTAL WILLACY-COASTAL CAMERON- 432 AM CDT SAT AUG 31 2013 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...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. GMZ130-132-135-150-155-170-175-010945- 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- 432 AM CDT SAT AUG 31 2013 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...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. 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.
2 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Drought conditions worsened across Starr County. Exceptional (D4) drought conditions spread west across the county, engulfing the eastern two thirds of the county, while the eastern third of the county experienced Extreme (D3) drought.
Drought conditions worsened across Jim Hogg County. Exceptional (D4) drought conditions surged northwest across the county, with Exceptional (D4) drought prevailing across most of the county. Extreme (D3) drought conditions surrounded the Exceptional (D4) drought conditions to the west , north and northeast, while small slivers of Severe (D2) drought conditions held on along far western and northern borders.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, September 2013
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: 478044, 478046.