Drought — Northern Hidalgo County, Texas

2023-10-10 to 2023-10-31 · Northern Hidalgo County, Texas

Event narrative

Severe (D2) Drought conditions prevailed across all of northern Hidalgo County from the 10th through the 16th (with a very slight improvement along the Willacy County line after 0.5 to 0.75 of rain fell during the afternoon of October 5th there. An area of less intense but quite welcome rain fell late on October 10th through early October 11th, dropping 1 to 1.5 across the area and nudging the Severe (D2) area farther west to only cover the western half of the area, mainly west of IH-69C.

Wider weather episode

Two areas of heavy rainfall associated with the season's first notable cold front dropped between 3 and 5 inches in portions of Cameron and Willacy County, and 1 to 2 or more inches in portions of Starr, Jim Hogg, and most of Zapata County during the afternoon and evening of October 5th. These rains, followed by a break in the searing heat, improved drought conditions in these areas - but Severe (D2) to Extreme (D3) Drought conditions continued, especially where the rains did not fall (Hidalgo and Brooks County).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1145194. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.