Drought in Texas, October 17 to 31, 2023

A sliver of western Cameron, including Santa Rosa and La Feria, remained in Severe (D2) Drought for the second half of October, as additional helpful rains did not fall after the events of October 5th and October 10th/11th. Elsewhere, Moderate (D1) conditions prevailed, with a sliver of Abnormally Dry (D0) near the Willacy line.

The combination of pockets of heavy rainfall (0.5 to 1 inch) during the afternoon of October 5th, along with a more widespread area of 0.75 to 1 from late October 10 through early October 11, allowed drought improvement from D3 (Extreme) to D2 (Severe) across much of southern Hidalgo County, mainly along/south of the IH-2 corridor, beginning on October 17th and continuing through month's end.

Measured and estimated rainfall of 0.75 to nearly 2 across Starr County late on October 10th through early October 11th was sufficient to knock drought down further across the county, with Severe (D2) from the Garceno area (between Rio Grande City and Roma) north through El Sauz and points east along FM 649, with Moderate (D1) to the west. These conditions would prevail through the month's end.

The combination of soil moisture increases from late afternoon/early evening rainfall on October 5th, with another round of 0.75 to locally 1 inch or more from late October 10th through early October 11th continued drought improvement. By the 17th, just a sliver of Severe (D2) remained across the far southeast corner of the county, which continued through month's end.

The combination of soil moisture increases from afternoon rainfall on October 5th, with another round of 0.75 to more than 1 inch or more from late October 10th through early October 11th across southern Kenedy County continued drought improvement. By the 17th, Severe (D2) was limited to a stripe from west-central Kenedy County to northeast sections of the inland portion of the county. These conditions continued through month's end.

General rains of 0.5 to 0.75 inches across coastal Kenedy County from late October 10th through early October 11th was enough to knock down drought conditions from Severe (D2) to Moderate (D1) or Abnormally Dry (D0) across the southern three-quarters of the area, with Severe conditions holding across the northeast corner of the area west of Laguna Madre through month's end.

General rains of 0.5 to 0.75 inches across the Kenedy County barrier island from late October 10th through early October 11th was enough to knock down drought conditions from Severe (D2) to Moderate (D1) or Abnormally Dry (D0) across the southern three-quarters of the area, with Severe conditions holding across the northern corner (quarter) of the barrier island through month's end.