The week of May 13-17 was a wet one with a series of upper level disturbances that brought a combination of showers and thunderstorms across Deep South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley. The rainfall from these events was sufficient to improve the drought conditions by one category across all of the region from the previous Drought Monitor, leaving most of Cameron County, the southwest portion of…
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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.
The week of May 13-17 was a wet one with a series of upper level disturbances that brought a combination of showers and thunderstorms across Deep South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley. The rainfall from these events was sufficient to improve the drought conditions by one category across all of the region from the previous Drought Monitor, leaving most of Cameron County, the southwest portion of Willacy County, and the southeastern portion of Hidalgo County in Severe (D2) Drought going into the latter half of May.
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 May 18, 11:37 PM CST, 23 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Brownsville TX 1237 AM CDT Tue May 19 2020 .DISCUSSION...Updated for latest aviation discussion below. && .AVIATION...Nighttime satellite imagery shows low clouds moving northward into Deep South Texas this morning. Models continue to show deteriorating flight conditions as ceilings drop through sunrise. MVFR categories should prevail with possible brief periods of IFR ceilings at times. By 14 to 15Z, dry air will quickly mix down and result in VFR the rest of the day. Another night of low ceilings can be expected again Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 629 PM CDT Mon May 18 2020/ DISCUSSION...Updated for latest aviation discussion below. AVIATION... VFR conditions will prevail across Deep South Texas through around 10-11Z Tuesday morning. Patchy MVFR fog along with at least SCT MVFR/IFR ceilings will begin developing by 10-11Z across the area, especially across HRL and MFE. Adequate mixing of drier air by 14-15Z Tuesday should dissipate any residual fog and much of the low cloud cover. VFR conditions will then prevail from 14-15Z Tuesday onward through the end of the TAF period. PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 257 PM CDT Mon May 18 2020/ SHORT TERM (Tonight through Tuesday Night): 500 mb ridging will control conditions over Deep South TX and the RGV throughout the short term period. Deep layer moisture values will remain pretty absent over the region through Tues Night with the S-SE low level winds only maintaining the moisture advection near the surface. The combination of daytime heating, elevated surface dewpoints and 1000- 500 mb thickness values from 580-583 to maintain temps well above climo for the latter half of May. High temps tomorrow will push up close to records both in BRO and MFE and the surface dewpoints will push the Heat Index values up into the 100-108 degree range for a couple of hours tomorrow afternoon. At this time this will fall just short of Heat Advisory Criteria for the region. The NAM and ECMWF are warmer throughout the short term versus the GFS for the RGV sites. Prefer the warmer numbers indicated the NAM/ECMWF considering the strength of the 500 mb ridging. The GFS numbers look underdone especially for highs tomorrow. The S-SE low level flow may set the stage for some areas of low clds and patchy light fog early tomorrow morning. The increasing daytime heating and low level mixing should allow for more sunshine later on Tues. LONG TERM (Wednesday through Monday): Mid-level 500 mb ridging will remain in control across the state through midweek, which results in continued hot and rain free conditions. Surface high pressure extending into the central Gulf of Mexico will also result in continued moderate south-southeasterly winds. The southerly flow attributes to very humid conditions and peak afternoon heat index values in the 105 to 110 degree range, especially across the upper valley. Expect very warm and muggy conditions at night as well with increasing low-level cloud cover each night. The mid-level ridging is expected to break down late Thursday into Friday as upper level troughing moves across the Intermountain West and the Desert Southwest. A series of shortwaves associated within the trough pattern will traverse across Mexico and over South Texas through the weekend and into the start of next week. Have elected to go with POPs in the slight chance to chance range from Thursday night through Monday as a result. Models indicate that the upper trough may develop into an upper low into early next week but mid-range models diverge some regarding the positioning of this low. At this time, the ECMWF is showing a wetter signal into early next week compared to the GFS. Despite the increased rain/thunderstorm chances and cloudiness, anticipate hot and humid conditions to continue through the long term period. As a result of the hot conditions leading to strong instability, some storms could be heavy/strong at times. MARINE (Now through Tuesday Night): An elongated N-S oriented low pressure system that is expected to push into the central Plains States tomorrow may tighten up the PGF enough to result in some SCEC conditions over the Laguna Madre and the lower TX Gulf Waters Tues and Tues Night. Otherwise, pretty benign marine conditions expected this evening and tonight as buoy and surface ob data show pretty light surface winds prevailing from the ESE tonight. Wednesday through Saturday night: Surface high pressure that extends into the central Gulf of Mexico will continue to result in moderate south-southeasterly winds along with moderate seas through the long term period. Small craft exercise caution to marginal small craft advisory conditions are likely across all or portions of the lower Texas coastal waters. Chances for rain showers and thunderstorms will be possible on Friday and into the weekend. && .BRO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...None. GM...None. && This product is also available on the web at: HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/RGV Aviation...65
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Brownsville TX 441 PM CDT Mon May 18 2020 TXZ248>257-351-353-192145- Zapata-Jim Hogg-Brooks-Inland Kenedy-Starr-Southern Hidalgo- Inland Willacy-Inland Cameron-Coastal Willacy-Coastal Cameron- Coastal Kenedy-Northern Hidalgo- 441 PM CDT Mon May 18 2020 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 Heat Advisories may be needed for western portions of the Rio Grande Valley and northern Ranchlands Wednesday through Sunday with heat indices possibly exceeding 110 degrees each afternoon. An elevated risk of rip currents is possible Wednesday through Sunday along the lower Texas coast. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed. GMZ130-132-135-150-155-170-175-192145- 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- 441 PM CDT Mon May 18 2020 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 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.
4 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
A series of upper level disturbances brought rain across Deep South Texas on May 16th and 17th, finally allowing drought conditions to improve in the lower Rio Grande Valley. The drought conditions improved to Severe (D2) Drought across most of Cameron County into late May.
A series of upper level disturbances brought rain across Deep South Texas on May 16th and 17th, finally allowing drought conditions to improve in the lower Rio Grande Valley. However, Willacy County was only clipped by the rain, so Extreme (D3) Drought conditions were alleviated while Severe (D2) Conditions persisted across the southwestern third of the county.
A series of upper level disturbances brought rain across Deep South Texas on May 16th and 17th, finally allowing drought conditions to improve in the lower Rio Grande Valley. The drought conditions improved across Southern Hidalgo County, confining the Severe (D2) Drought conditions to the eastern portion of Southern Hidalgo through May 25th.
A series of upper level disturbances brought rain across Deep South Texas on May 16th and 17th, finally allowing drought conditions to improve in the lower Rio Grande Valley. The drought conditions improved to Severe (D2) Drought across the southern portion of Coastal Cameron County into late May.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, May 2020
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: 893514, 893515, 893516, 893518.