Drought — Zapata, Texas

2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Zapata, Texas

Event narrative

Extreme (D3) Drought dominated September across most of Zapata County, as rainfall was limited to patches of the county (mainly the northern tier) after mid month. At the start of the month, a sliver of Severe (D2) Drought existed near the Starr County and Webb County lines (south and north); these were eliminated by continued searing heat and lack of rainfall by September 5th, and the entire county was at Extreme levels until the aforementioned rainfall across the extreme northern tier mid-month helped knock down the drought level one category, to Severe (D2) once again from San Ygnacio northeast to the Jim Hogg line on September 19, about 5 miles south of the Webb County line. Livestock were impacted by the conditions, though there were not specific loss values available at the time of this writing (late November).

Wider weather episode

Near record to record hot and generally rain-free weather to begin the normally wettest month of the calendar year maintained a large swath of Severe (D2) to Extreme (D3) Drought across all but the eastern portions of the Brush Country/Coastal Plains and Rio Grande Valley.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1142734. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.