Drought — Northern Hidalgo County, Texas

2026-01-13 to 2026-01-31 · Northern Hidalgo County, Texas

Event narrative

By mid month, Severe (D2) Drought expanded slightly eastward to include nearly all of Northern Hidalgo County with the exception of the extreme southeastern part. The extreme northwestern part of Northern Hidalgo County saw Extreme (D3) Drought develop by mid month. These conditions remained in place through the remainder of the month.

Wider weather episode

Little to no rainfall and a mixture of heat followed by cold and generally dry weather, including a hard freeze toward the end of January combined to steadily worsen drought conditions across northern Hidalgo, Jim Hogg, Brooks, Starr, and Zapata County. Coverage of Extreme Drought increased to more than 70% of these areas by the 13th, which continued through month's end.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1315234. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.