Drought — Cameron, Texas

2025-03-18 to 2025-03-31 · Cameron, Texas

Event narrative

Severe (D2) Drought expanded into a sliver of western Cameron County, including Santa Rosa and La Feria, on March 18th, with the area nudging slightly eastward on the 25th. Torrential, historic rainfall induced widespread flash flooding on the 27th which would improve conditions by April 1st.

Texas Agrilife reported that south Texas row crops suffered early-season stress with water shortages prior to March 27th becoming critical. Rangeland/pastures became very dry, peaking around March 25th.

Wider weather episode

Another week of extremely dry conditions between March 11-17, combined with periodic gusty winds and occasional heat spikes, worsened drought to Extreme (D3) across Starr, Jim Hogg, and Zapata Counties, and expanded Severe (D2) conditions to parts of all counties in Deep South Texas. Relative humidity averaged below 15 percent for the week leading up to March 18th for most of the region. Rangelands turned completely brittle and cattle herds continued to be culled as water shortages worsened.

Some good fortune smiled on the region toward the end of March, as a historic flood impacted much of the Lower Rio Grande Valley, with welcome but lesser rains across the Brush Country and Rio Grande Plains. While much of the rain was not completely absorbed by parched soil (due to runoff), the rains would reduce the drought footprint by April 1st.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1249476. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.