Drought in Willacy, Texas
Drought February 17, 2026 – February 28, 2026 · Willacy, Texas
What the National Weather Service wrote
Severe (D2) Drought conditions edged into northwest Willacy County on February 17th, and would expand slightly to include all of far western Willacy on the 24th. A very tiny sliver of Extreme (D3) conditions nudged along the county line with Hidalgo and Kenedy County by the 24th.
The wider storm
Lack of rainfall, top five-ten heat, and a flash drought situation with extremely low top-soil moisture levels allowed Severe (D2) to Extreme (D3) Drought conditions to worsen as February approached March. Exceptional (D4) Drought developed on the 17th across the Brush Country - just the fourth small area in the nation at the time (others were in the Texas Big Bend, central Colorado, and northeast Arkansas). By month's end, the Texas Agrilife Crop and Weather report described soil moisture conditions as extremely poor, with range and pasture forages in poor condition and in some cases, cattle ranchers were liquidating herds.
Loss/impact reports will be provided for the end of March StormData, when region-wide seasonal drought conditions peaked.
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1321035. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.
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