Drought in Northern Hidalgo County, Texas

Exceptional Drought (D4) spread from Brooks into the northern half of Northern Hidalgo County on March 17th. Extreme (D3) conditions prevailed elsewhere. D4 conditions steadily spread to all but the southern quarter of Northern Hidalgo on the 24th, and all but small slivers along the Starr and Willacy line by the 31st. Cattle herds may have needed to be culled, as water supplies dwindled and rangelands became brittle to dusty.

Continued rain-free, warm to hot, low humidity, and occasional breezy to windy conditions allowed drought to worsen across many areas of the southern tip of Texas in mid to late March. Extreme (D3, level 3 of 4) to Exceptional (D4, level 4 of 4) continued to spread to the east and west across the region, and farmers began to really feel the impacts for early season crop planting, while ranchers continued to cull cattle herds.