Dry conditions spread into southwestern Kenedy County, the northeast corner of Hidalgo County, and the far northwest corner of Willacy County. The dry conditions that developed due to below normal rainfall in December, intensified, with Severe (D2) drought conditions returning to the previously mentioned locations.
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.
Dry conditions spread into southwestern Kenedy County, the northeast corner of Hidalgo County, and the far northwest corner of Willacy County. The dry conditions that developed due to below normal rainfall in December, intensified, with Severe (D2) drought conditions returning to the previously mentioned locations.
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 23, 11:32 PM CST, 28 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service BROWNSVILLE TX 1132 PM CST Mon Jan 23 2017 .DISCUSSION...Updated for latest aviation discussion below. && .AVIATION...VFR conditions will prevail the next 24 hours with mostly clear skies expected. The main impacts will be the strong southerly winds starting Tuesday morning and persisting through the afternoon as a deep low pressure system develops in the Central Plains and tightens the pressure gradient along the Lower Texas Coast. Winds are likely to approach AWW criteria at BRO and HRL. With the persistent southerly winds, low-level moisture will increase Tuesday afternoon, but only a few low level cumulus clouds are expected. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 613 PM CST Mon Jan 23 2017/ DISCUSSION...Updated for latest aviation discussion below. AVIATION...VFR conditions will prevail the next 24 hours with very dry air preventing any fog or clouds from developing. The main impacts will be the strong southerly winds starting Tuesday morning as a deep low pressure system develops in the Central Plains and tightens the pressure gradient along the Lower Texas Coast. Moisture will begin to increase Tuesday afternoon with persistent southerly winds, but only a few low level cumulus clouds are expected, if anything. PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 145 PM CST Mon Jan 23 2017/ SHORT TERM (Tonight through Tuesday Night):The main issue in the short term portion of the forecast is wind. High pressure over the Gulf of Mexico will interact with a low pressure system and associated cold front in the Central Plains on Tuesday. Both MET and MAV guidance suggest that winds will be strong enough to reach Wind Advisory criteria within a portion of Deep South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley at that time, likely the three immediate coastal counties and the far eastern portion of Hidalgo County. Will defer the issuance, if any, of the Wind Advisory to a successive shift. Also, given the abundance of cured fuels across the BRO CWFA from the recent freeze, a Fire Danger Statement will likely also need to be issued, as the expected relative humidity percentages will be too high to warrant a Red Flag Warning. LONG TERM (Wednesday through Monday): Elongated troughing and a cold front will be stretching from the the Great Lakes Region to back towards Deep South Texas. Low pressure will be quickly moving across the Rio Grande Plains as the cold front sweeps into the northwest portion of the CWA around daybreak on Wednesday. The front will move through the remainder of RGV and out over the coastal waters by early afternoon. Models continue to indicate an extremely dry atmosphere and no rainfall is expected for land areas. Meanwhile...NW winds will become breezy with 15 to 20 mph winds and some higher gusts...but do not expect Wind Advisory criteria to be met. Additionally...another surge of drier air will filter into the region and RH values will fall back into the mid teen across the western third of the area. There is concern about Red Flag Warning criteria being met briefly...maybe for an hour or so...over portions of Starr and Zapata Counties. High pressure will quickly move into the region by the evening with north winds brining a re-enforcing shot of cooler air. Temperatures will fall back to near or even a bit below normal to round out the work week. Meanwhile...the high pressure will move east over the SE Gulf Coast States on Thursday and Friday. Winds will shift from NE to E bringing onshore flow and an increase of moisture back to the RGV by Friday. It will take some time for the atmosphere to moisten back up and do expect Friday to remain mainly dry...although clouds will be on the increase. By the weekend...deeper layer moisture will increase and a highly positively tilted H5 trough will keep zonal flow from the Pacific over the region. Meanwhile...another surface cold front will slide in from the NE on Saturday. As such...increasing rainfall chances will be noted on Saturday and to a somewhat lesser degree on Sunday. The tilted low become cut-off from the main flow late in the period and develops into a more neutrally tilted trough over Central Mexico. This may keep rainfall chances lingering through the beginning of next week. However...models still differ this far out in the extended with the GFS holding on to rainfall longer than the drier ECMWF. Temperatures will likely be even cooler given rainfall and cloud cover. MARINE: Now through Tuesday Night: Buoy 42020 reported west-northwest winds around 8 knots gusting to around 10 knots with seas of 2 feet with a period of 5 seconds at 13 CST/19 UTC. High pressure over the Gulf of Mexico will begin to interact with a low pressure system and associated cold front in the Central Plains during the forecast period. Small Craft will likely need to Exercise Caution for the Gulf of Mexico waters east of Padre Island tonight, with Small Craft Advisories likely needed for all or portions of the Lower Texas coastal waters Tuesday and Tuesday night. Wednesday through Saturday: The next cold front will sweeps through the coastal water Wednesday...bringing moderate to strong NW winds and building seas through at least late Wednesday night or into the early mornign hours on Thursday. SCAs maybe be needed for all or portions of the Lower Texas Coastal Waters. Surface high pressure will build into Texas and move along the Southern Gulf States Thursday and Friday. Light to moderate NE winds on Thursday will become E on Friday...with low to moderate seas in place. More adverse marine conditons will return on Saturday as a front moves in from the NE...with winds and seas increasing to possibly SCA criteria. More widespread showers are possible. && .BRO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...None. GM...None. && This product is also available on the web at: HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/RGV 65/53
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 404 PM CST MON JAN 23 2017 TXZ248>257-241100- ZAPATA-JIM HOGG-BROOKS-KENEDY-STARR-HIDALGO-INLAND WILLACY- INLAND CAMERON-COASTAL WILLACY-COASTAL CAMERON- 404 PM CST MON JAN 23 2017 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF DEEP SOUTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY A WIND ADVISORY MAY BE NEEDED FOR PORTIONS OF DEEP SOUTH TEXAS AND THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY ON TUESDAY. ELEVATED FIRE DANGER IS POSSIBLE FOR PORTIONS OF DEEP SOUTH TEXAS AND THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY ON TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. AN ELEVATED RISK OF RIP CURRENTS IS POSSIBLE AT THE LOCAL BEACHES TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. GMZ130-132-135-150-155-170-175-241100- 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- 404 PM CST MON JAN 23 2017 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF THE GULF OF MEXICO AND THE LAGUNA MADRE. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES ARE POSSIBLE ALONG THE LOWER TEXAS COAST TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...AND AGAIN ON SATURDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Continued below normal rainfall allowed for Severe (D2) drought conditions to develop across the southwest corner of Kenedy County and to continue across the northeast corner of the county.
Continued below normal rainfall allowed for Severe (D2) drought conditions to develop across the northeast corner of Hidalgo County.
Continued below normal rainfall allowed for Severe (D2) drought conditions to develop across the northwest corner of Willacy County.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, January 2017
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: 677389, 677392, 677393.