Beneficial rainfall brought significant drought relief to Deep South Texas in late May. Coverage of both Extreme (D3) and Severe (D2) Drought intensities was greatly reduced.
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.
Beneficial rainfall brought significant drought relief to Deep South Texas in late May. Coverage of both Extreme (D3) and Severe (D2) Drought intensities was greatly reduced.
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 24, 11:20 PM CST, 40 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Brownsville TX 1220 AM CDT Tue May 25 2021 .DISCUSSION...Updated for latest aviation discussion below. && .AVIATION...Satellite images and surface observations indicate a mix of low and high clouds across the CWA late tonight. Ceilings were near 900ft at KHBV to near 11000ft at KTXW. Expect MVFR conditions across the Rio Grande Valley the rest of tonight through early Tuesday morning as a 500mb shortwave trough across northwest Texas continues to provide low to mid level moisture across south Texas tonight. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 644 PM CDT Mon May 24 2021/ DISCUSSION...Updated for latest aviation discussion below. AVIATION...Showers/thunderstorms will pretty much have dissipated or moved north of the region by or shortly after sunset. VFR conditions for the evening with MVFR ceiling forming after midnight or closer to sunrise Tuesday. Confidence is low on how widespread Ceiling will become and may be more patchy and short-lived. A few coastal showers to form overnight possible approaching the coast around sunrise. Confidence and probability is low on if showers may impact the regional airports with the main upper disturbance will be well removed from Deep South Texas Tuesday. Light southeast winds prevail tonight becoming moderate tomorrow afternoon. PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 323 PM CDT Mon May 24 2021/ SHORT TERM (Tonight through Tuesday Night): Sea breeze enhanced convection is underway this afternoon, with thunderstorms moving northwest and north along the line with some training and moderate downpours. The convection will continue, mainly for eastern sections, for a few more hours before conditions settle down this evening. Factors are a weakness aloft and ample low level moisture. Gusty winds and occasional to frequent cloud to ground lightning are accompanying the main cells. Ridging will continue over the Southeast United States with synoptic scale high pressure over the Gulf supporting moderate southeast breezes. Conditions will be slightly less favorable for areawide convective coverage on Tuesday as the mid level weakness fills, but the NAM, for example, suggests another sea breeze event on Tuesday. Temperatures will be near normal east but slightly above normal west on Tuesday. Tides are running over a foot above predicted, leading to beach run-up and overwash, especially around high tide. High tide at Brazos Santiago is forecast for 4:45 AM on Tuesday, leading to possible minor coastal flooding. Heading toward a full moon plus persistent east swell may lead to an elevated (potentially high) risk of rip currents on Tuesday as well. LONG TERM (Wednesday through Monday): 500 mb ridging will be building over the RGV/Deep South TX on Wed with the ridging persisting through Fri and into Sat. The deep layer tropical moisture feed over the region will be shut down later this week which will allow for above normal temps and below normal pops to prevail. Then a rather large and elongated 500 mb trough axis will start digging into the Western States. This western trough axis will start pushing eastwards towards the South Central Plains States over the upcoming weekend. But the 500 mb ridging will still likely remain entrenched over the region through next Mon. Some better moisture values may start to edge into W/N TX over the weekend, but do not expect much in the way of serious moisture advection to occur over the RGV. So for now will hold off on bringing in any serious pops throughout the longer range period. The ECMWF and GFS models are in decent agreement in the overall 500 mb pattern through Days 7/8. However the ECMWF is more bullish in the moisture advection ahead of the West Coast 500 mb trough and accordingly is a little bit wetter for pops for the weekend. The longer range temps from both models are in reasonable agreement with the ECMWF coming in slightly warmer versus the GFS. The overall confidence level for the longer range forecast wording is above average this afternoon. The latest longer range tropical model guidance and 5 day outlook from NHC indicates that the Atlantic Basin will remain quiet for the rest of this work week. MARINE (Today through Tuesday Night): Moderate southeast winds through the forecast. Moderate to sometimes slightly higher seas on the Gulf waters, especially offshore, due to persistent east swell. A slight uptick in winds/waves may occur on the offshore Gulf waters tonight, with borderline small craft advisory conditions. Wednesday through Saturday Night: The PGF will likely slacken slowly from Wed onwards as broad surface ridging persists over the Gulf of Mex. This will allow moderate winds and seas to persist with no SCA conditions expected through Sat Night. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BAYVIEW/PORT ISABEL 86 76 86 75 / 10 0 0 0 BROWNSVILLE 88 77 90 77 / 10 0 0 0 HARLINGEN 89 76 90 75 / 10 0 0 0 MCALLEN 92 76 93 75 / 10 0 0 0 RIO GRANDE CITY 96 76 97 75 / 10 0 0 0 SOUTH PADRE ISLAND 81 78 81 78 / 10 0 0 0 && .BRO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...High Rip Current Risk through this evening for TXZ256-257-351. GM...None. && This product is also available on the web at: HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/RGV 61-Castillo/68-McGinnis
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Brownsville TX 422 PM CDT Mon May 24 2021 TXZ248>257-351-353-252130- Zapata-Jim Hogg-Brooks-Inland Kenedy-Starr-Southern Hidalgo- Inland Willacy-Inland Cameron-Coastal Willacy-Coastal Cameron- Coastal Kenedy-Northern Hidalgo- 422 PM CDT Mon May 24 2021 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of Deep South Texas. .DAY ONE...Tonight There will continue to be a high risk of rip currents tonight along the beaches of South Padre Island and at Boca Chica Beach. Minor coastal flooding will occur tonight along low-lying land areas along the Laguna Madre and also along area Gulf-facing beaches. This will be especially the case at the time of high tide which will be at 445 AM Tuesday morning. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday There will continue to be a moderate to high risk of rip currents on Tuesday and Wednesday along the beaches of South Padre Island and at Boca Chica Beach. Minor coastal flooding will continue to be possible at the time of high tide along low-lying land areas along the Laguna Madre and also along area Gulf-facing beaches through the weekend. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed. GMZ130-132-135-150-155-170-175-252130- 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- 422 PM CDT Mon May 24 2021 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. MB
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Beneficial rainfall allowed for drought conditions to improve significantly across Zapata County through the end of May. Extreme (D3) Drought was reduced back to mainly northwestern portions of Zapata, while Severe (D2) Drought remained in place across much of the remainder of Zapata County.
Beneficial rainfall allowed for drought conditions to improve significantly across Jim Hogg County through the end of May. Extreme (D3) Drought was completely removed from the county, while Severe (D2) Drought remained in place across western portions of the county. Additional rainfall would lead to Severe (D2) Drought being removed from the county with the June 1 Drought Monitor update.
Beneficial rainfall allowed for drought conditions to improve significantly across Starr County through the end of May. Extreme (D3) Drought was completely removed from the county, while Severe (D2) Drought remained in place across northern portions of the county. Additional rainfall would lead to Severe (D2) Drought being removed from the county with the June 1 Drought Monitor update.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, May 2021
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: 956476, 956477, 956478.