Texas, 2024

Storm Surge in Texas, June 19 to 21, 2024

June 19 to 21, 2024 · NWS BRO · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

S. and broad low pressure in the southwest Gulf brought a gradual increase in wave energy and rising tides (coastal run up) on the Lower Texas coast barrier island.

Where it happened

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.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$2.5 million
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
3

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS BRO wrote it up.

The difference between unusually strong (for late June) high pressure over the southeast U.S. and broad low pressure in the southwest Gulf brought a gradual increase in wave energy and rising tides (coastal run up) on the Lower Texas coast barrier island. Departures from predicted began to spike during the afternoon of June 18th, with the combination of wave energy (from 12+ foot waves and a 10-12 second swell period) beginning the onset of beach erosion (dune calving) along the barrier island. The erosion had at least two peaks - the morning of June 19th and June 20th when high tide combined with the strong run-up. The surface low consolidated into Tropical Storm Alberto at 10 AM CDT on June 19th, so the coastal flood events will be listed as storm surge.

In addition to dune calving on South Padre Island, a top-four highest total storm tide occurred at the Port Isabel tide gage. However, aside from increased water levels, there was no reported damage as of this writing. Should information on damage - for example, to docks and unprotected property - arrive, an event will be added for Coastal Cameron County.

What forecasters said that day

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 Jun 18, 11:45 PM CST, 3 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 18, 11:45 PM CST, 3 hours 15 minutes before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 storm surge/tide. Local standard time, as filed.

Storm Surge/Tide, Cameron Island

When
June 19, 3:00 AM CST to June 21, 9:00 AM CST
Where
Cameron Island forecast zone
Property damage
$2.5 million
Reported by
C-MAN Station
Coordinates
26.152, -97.453 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Texas Coastal Ocean Observation Network (TCOON)/C-MAN platform at Brazos Santiago, along the Isla Blanca jetty just inshore from the beachfront, recorded a prolonged period of much higher than predicted tides, with departures generally 2 feet or more above predicted through the period. Astronomical tides were generally low, and this likely reduced the potential for property damage beyond severe and extensive beach erosion. The time period selected combined the above predicted tides with long-period swells and high waves, each which increased both run-up and wave set-up to cause erosion, which peaked at high tide but also occurred between high and low tide cycles.

Damage from calving of the dunes, both in the city of South Padre and along the narrower beaches northward to Port Mansfield was unknown but likely in the several millions of dollars for full renourishment.

Peak surge values - the difference between observed and predicted tides - were as follows:|Brazos Santiago: 3.19 feet at 818 PM CDT on June 19th and 3.14 feet at 336 PM CDT on June 20th. |Coast Guard Station South Padre: 3.17 feet at 912 PM on June 19th and 3.08 feet at 342 PM on June 20th.

Peak total water levels above normally dry ground, which during periods of lower astronomical (seasonal) tides can have a negative value (meaning the water is farther out and the beaches wider) were as follows:

Brazos Santiago: 2.5 feet at 5 AM June 20th. |Coast Guard Station South Padre Island: 2.73 feet at 554 AM June 20th.

The peak total water level at Port Isabel (west side of Laguna Madre) reached 2.87 feet at 606 AM June 20th, which was the fourth highest on record, behind only Hurricane Allen (1980), Hurricane Beulah (1967), and Hurricane Carla (1961).

Storm Surge/Tide, Willacy Island

When
June 19, 3:00 AM CST to June 21, 9:00 AM CST
Where
Willacy Island forecast zone
Reported by
C-MAN Station
Coordinates
26.477, -97.592 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Texas Coastal Ocean Observation Network (TCOON)/C-MAN platform at Brazos Santiago (South Padre Island), along the Isla Blanca jetty just inshore from the beachfront, recorded a prolonged period of much higher than predicted tides, with departures generally 2 feet or more above predicted through the period. Astronomical tides were generally low, and this likely reduced the potential for property damage beyond severe and extensive beach erosion. The time period selected combined the above predicted tides with long-period swells and high waves, each which increased both run-up and wave set-up to cause erosion, which peaked at high tide but also occurred between high and low tide cycles.

An unknown amount of dune calving likely occurred along the beach front of along the narrower beaches northward to Port Mansfield was unknown.

Peak surge values - the difference between observed and predicted tides - were as follows for locations along the beachside (just inshore) and bayside of South Padre Island (south end). These are likely good proxies for values along the barrier island of Willacy County:

Brazos Santiago: 3.19 feet at 818 PM CDT on June 19th and 3.14 feet at 336 PM CDT on June 20th. |Coast Guard Station South Padre: 3.17 feet at 912 PM on June 19th and 3.08 feet at 342 PM on June 20th.

Peak total water levels above normally dry ground, which during periods of lower astronomical (seasonal) tides can have a negative value (meaning the water is farther out and the beaches wider) were as follows:

Brazos Santiago: 2.5 feet at 5 AM June 20th. |Coast Guard Station South Padre Island: 2.73 feet at 554 AM June 20th.

Note that tides at Port Mansfield (bayside), measured in Mean Sea Level, rose rapidly through June 19th and peaked on June 20th-22nd. Times used here reflect the period of most impact along the barrier island; while higher water levels continued into June 22nd, wave energy subsided steadily into the 21st and impactful flood conditions likely receded with it. Peak values ranged from 2.4 to 2.6 feet during the listed time period.

Storm Surge/Tide, Kenedy Island

When
June 19, 7:00 AM CST to June 21, 12:00 PM CST
Where
Kenedy Island forecast zone
Reported by
C-MAN Station
Coordinates
26.928, -97.636 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Texas Coastal Ocean Observation Network (TCOON)/C-MAN platform at Brazos Santiago (South Padre Island), along the Isla Blanca jetty just inshore from the beachfront, recorded a prolonged period of much higher than predicted tides, with departures generally 2 feet or more above predicted through the period. Astronomical tides were generally low, and this likely reduced the potential for property damage beyond severe and extensive beach erosion. The time period selected combined the above predicted tides with long-period swells and high waves, each which increased both run-up and wave set-up to cause erosion, which peaked at high tide but also occurred between high and low tide cycles.

An unknown amount of dune calving likely occurred along Padre Island National Seashore (PINS) along the Kenedy County coastline at narrower beaches. There were no known new cuts from the water levels there, and the exact value of true surge is unknown, but given the similarity of the pressure differences, the value is likely somewhere between 2.75 and 3 feet.

Peak surge values - the difference between observed and predicted tides - were as follows for locations along the beachside (just inshore) and bayside of South Padre Island (south end). These are likely fair proxies for values along the barrier island of Kenedy County:

Brazos Santiago: 3.19 feet at 818 PM CDT on June 19th and 3.14 feet at 336 PM CDT on June 20th. |Coast Guard Station South Padre: 3.17 feet at 912 PM on June 19th and 3.08 feet at 342 PM on June 20th.

Peak total water levels above normally dry ground, which during periods of lower astronomical (seasonal) tides can have a negative value (meaning the water is farther out and the beaches wider) were as follows:

Brazos Santiago: 2.5 feet at 5 AM June 20th. |Coast Guard Station South Padre Island: 2.73 feet at 554 AM June 20th.

Note that tides at Rincon del San Jose (bayside, southeastern Kenedy), measured in Mean Sea Level, rose rapidly through June 19th and peaked on June 20th. Times used here reflect the period of most impact along the barrier island; while higher water levels continued into June 22nd, wave energy subsided steadily into the 21st and impactful flood conditions likely receded with it. Peak values reached 2.67 feet MSL at 354 PM June 20th, and ranged from 2.5 to 2.67 feet from around 1 PM on June 20th through 12 PM June 21st. Similar values were reported at Baffin Bay, just north of the Kenedy/Kleberg line inshore of PINS.

What these are

Storm Surge/Tide
Water pushed ashore above the normal tide by a storm’s winds and low pressure.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Texas in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, June 2024The 2024 hurricane season

Sources

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: 1197793, 1197797, 1197810.