Drought — Zapata, Texas

2023-10-01 to 2023-10-09 · Zapata, Texas

Event narrative

Extreme Drought (D3) prevailed across all but the northern fifth of Zapata County, from San Ygnacio north to the Webb County line and northeast to Jim Hogg County just five miles south of the Webb County line, through October 9th. Broad rainfall of 1 to more than 2 inches during the evening of October 5th would improve conditions to Severe (D2) across nearly all of the county on October 10th.

Wider weather episode

Searing heat that dominated September continued into the first four days of October across the entire region, maintaining Severe (D2) to Extreme (D3) Drought. Localized clusters of thunderstorms from southern Kenedy through Brownsville (Cameron County), and across the Jim Hogg/Starr/Zapata Brush Country/Rio Grande Plains on October 5th, associated with a cooling front, would begin gradual improvements across the entire region - though Severe to Extreme conditions would persist a bit longer.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1144878. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.