Hail — Zapata, Texas

2023-04-28 · near Lopeno, Zapata, Texas

Event narrative

Zapata County Sheriff's Office reported a car swerving off the road in Morales-Sanchez due to hail the size of golf balls.

Wider weather episode

Strong to severe thunderstorms ahead of a strong cold front raced along the Rio Grande from the evening of April 28th into the morning of April 29th. The initial phase of the storms produced large hail across Zapata and Starr Counties the evening of April 28th. The storms congealed into a squall line along the Rio Grande in southeastern Starr County and southwestern Hidalgo County just before midnight. This squall line went on to race across southern Hidalgo County, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

An official NWS Storm Survey concluded the squall line produced several gusts between 75 to 85 mph at the surface, with higher gusts experienced at higher levels. Some of the damage included a plane being destroyed at McAllen-Miller International Airport; numerous poorly anchored roofs lifted off buildings; dozens, if not hundreds, of broken power poles; and dozens of damaged or destroyed billboards.

The storms then went on to produce more damage across southeastern Hidalgo County and into eastern Cameron County early in the morning of April 29th. Another official NWS Storm Survey concluded winds of 70 to 80 mph were experienced here, which downed several trees and power poles, a few metal roofs lifted off and caused numerous power outages.

Total damage was unknown due to the large number of locations impacted. A state disaster declaration was given for Hidalgo County following the event, and dollar damages and recovery costs were expected to be more than $50 million. Those numbers will be updated when available at a later date.

Times listed for individual wind events along the NWS Storm Survey were based on best estimates of when the strongest winds occurred; in general, strongest winds at or above severe limits (58 mph) likely lasted between 5 and 8 minutes either side of the listed time.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (26.7800, -99.1200)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1084245. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.