By March 11, Severe (D2) Drought expanded eastward to include all of Starr, western Hidalgo, Brooks, and western Kenedy Counties. The Severe Drought would expand farther east soon after, with Extreme (D3) Drought developing across the upper Valley, Brush Country, and Rio Grande Plains.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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.
By March 11, Severe (D2) Drought expanded eastward to include all of Starr, western Hidalgo, Brooks, and western Kenedy Counties. The Severe Drought would expand farther east soon after, with Extreme (D3) Drought developing across the upper Valley, Brush Country, and Rio Grande Plains. The worsening and expanding drought began to have impact on pastures and cattle herds. Pastures continued to dry out with limited hay for grazing, and herds were culled, with some movement to other pastures as water shortages built.
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 Mar 10, 11:10 PM CST, 50 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Brownsville TX 1210 AM CDT Tue Mar 11 2025 ...New AVIATION... .SHORT TERM... (Tonight through Tuesday night) Issued at 128 PM CDT Mon Mar 10 2025 Pleasant conditions are expected to continue through the short term forecast period with mostly clear skies. This will allow for a wind range in the diurnal temperatures during the period. Tonight the low temperatures are expected to be in the range of upper 40s in the Northern Ranchlands to the mid 50s in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Then the high temperatures for tomorrow are expected to be in the 80s for most of Deep South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley. The only exception to this will be right along the coast and on the barrier island, where the highs are more likely to be in the 70s. As for tomorrow night, the low temperatures are projected to be in the upper 50s in the Northern Ranchlands to mid 60s in the Lower Valley. There is a low chance (less than 30 percent) of dense fog developing over the Northern Ranchlands during the overnight hours tonight. However, given that the environment is still somewhat favorable for the development of fog, shallow patchy field fog can not be ruled out. The relative humidity values for tomorrow are expected to be in the range of 25 to 50 percent west to east and 20-foot winds are expected to be light, meaning that conditions should be below elevated fire weather concerns. Lastly, with wave heights along the Lower Texas Coast expected to be low (between 2 to 3 feet), there is a low risk of rip currents at the local beaches and no coastal hazards in effect either. && .LONG TERM... (Wednesday through next Monday) Issued at 128 PM CDT Mon Mar 10 2025 Key Messages: -Potential Fire Weather concerns, especially early next week. -Above normal temperatures through the period. Generally, mid level zonal flow is expected through much of the period along with surface high pressure over the SE US leading to warm and dry conditions. On Wednesday, a midlevel low moves through the Central Plains bringing a cold front into South Texas, but this front looks to stall in the NW portions of the CWA before dissipating on Thursday. Ahead of the boundary, an increased sfc pressure gradient will lead to elevated winds, mainly along the coast. Another trough will move through the Plains Friday into Saturday, with another cold front moving into the region. This cold front is expected to move through Deep South Texas on late Friday/early Saturday. Drier air in wake of the front along with breezy conditions, primarily on Monday, will lead to some concern for Fire Danger. Please See the Fire Weather Section below. Temperatures will remain above normal and will continue to climb into Friday. On Friday, we could see portions of the Rio Grande Plains in the low 100s. Fortunately, Heat Indices will remain low thanks to the drier air in place. The cold front moving through late Friday/Saturday will cool temperatures back into the 80s for the remainder of the weekend. Overnight, temperatures will generally be in the 60s ahead of the cold front later week, with overnight lows in the 50s again over the weekend. && .AVIATION... (00Z TAFS) Issued at 628 PM CDT Mon Mar 10 2025 Through 00z Wednesday....VFR conditions with plenty of sunshine are expected to prevail through the entire 00z TAF cycle as high pressure remains dominant over the area. Winds will be out of the east if not light and variable with magnitudes between 5-10 kts through this evening/tonight. On Tuesday, winds will shift out of the south-southeast 10-15 kts with gusts as high as 20 kts or so. && .AVIATION... (06Z TAFS) Issued at 1209 AM CDT Tue Mar 11 2025 VFR conditions prevail through the TAF period with light and variable winds turning southeasterly. && .MARINE... Issued at 128 PM CDT Mon Mar 10 2025 Tonight through Tuesday Night...Favorable marine conditions are expected to persist through Tuesday night with light and variable winds becoming more southeasterly and southerly during the period and low seas. Wednesday through Sunday...Slightly adverse conditions are expected on the waters off the lower Texas coast on Wednesday. This will be due to an increased pressure gradient ahead of a cold front that will stall to the NW. Small Craft will likely need to exercise caution,mainly on the Gulf waters with favorable conditions returning for Thursday. A cold front moving through the late Friday will lead to additional Caution conditions on Friday and Saturday, with the potential for Small Craft Advisories. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 128 PM CDT Mon Mar 10 2025 (Wednesday through Monday) While 20 ft winds will likely remain below the threshold for a Rangeland Fire Danger Statement(RFD) this week, low humidity will be in place and thus an RFD can not be ruled out at times, especially if the forecasted winds any day increase. At this time, Monday will be the best chance for wildfire growth and spread with 20 ft winds between 15 and 20 mph and humidity levels falling to 20-30% across much of inland Deep South Texas warranting a Fire Danger Statement. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BROWNSVILLE 64 83 65 86 / 0 0 0 0 HARLINGEN 60 90 62 91 / 0 0 0 0 MCALLEN 64 95 65 95 / 0 0 0 0 RIO GRANDE CITY 60 97 59 95 / 0 0 0 0 SOUTH PADRE ISLAND 63 75 63 75 / 0 0 0 0 BAYVIEW/PORT ISABEL 62 82 62 82 / 0 0 0 0 && .BRO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...None. GM...None. && SHORT TERM...64 LONG TERM....68 AVIATION...56-Hallman
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Severe (D2) Drought spread to all of Starr County on March 11th, and continued through March 17th before worsening thereafter as the combination of heat, wind, very dry air, and increasing sun angle/evaporation rates contributed to the onset of a flash drought.
Severe (D2) Drought developed in all of Brooks County on March 11th, and continued through the end of the month. Note that locally heavy rainfall between March 26 and early March 28 would reduce drought levels in the county, but these would be shown on the April 1 monitor.
Severe (D2) Drought developed across most of northern Hidalgo County on March 11th, which would expand to the eastern sliver of the zone on the 18th and continue through the end of the month. Increasing stressors were noted in agriculture, with emerging spring crops showing signs of moisture stress. Water hauling and supplemental feeding was in full swing for cattle herds, which continued to be culled. Note that locally heavy rainfall between March 26 and early March 28 would reduce drought levels in the county, but these would be shown on the April 1 monitor.
Severe (D2) Drought developed across the western half of southern Hidalgo County on March 11th, which would expand to the entire zone on the 18th and continue through the rest of the month. Increasing stressors were noted in agriculture, with emerging spring crops showing signs of moisture stress. Water hauling and supplemental feeding was in full swing for cattle herds, which continued to be culled. Note that locally heavy rainfall between March 26 and early March 28 would reduce drought levels in the county, but these would be shown on the April 1 monitor.
Severe (D2) Drought would spread into northwestern through southwestern Kenedy County on March 11th, and continue through March 17th before marching across most of the county during the next ten days. Note that heavy rainfall on March 27-28, which would improve conditions, was not registered on the Drought Monitor until April 1.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, March 2025
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: 1248926, 1249441, 1249448, 1249449, 1249453.