Drought in Southern Hidalgo County, Texas

Persistent dryness, heat, wind, and low humidity during the final week of March were enough to push Exceptional (D4) Drought into a large portion of the crop-rich sections of southern Hidalgo County. Extreme (D3) conditions continued from Weslaco to Mercedes, and west of McAllen. Unknown as of this writing are dollar damage/production losses to citrus and dryland crops that were struggling; planting had been delayed until rains came - which happened less than a week later.

March 31, 2026, was a red-letter day for the southern tip of Texas in terms of drought. Months of dry, top-five to ten warmest, low humidity, and breezy weather took its toll - and by the 31st, all areas were at Severe (D2) or higher, with 95% of the region at Extreme (D3) or higher, and a whopping 54.79% at Exceptional (D4) conditions. Soon after, on Easter Weekend, the worst drought in 13 years would begin to crack with the start of spring rains, which continued through at least the end of May.

Still, there were likely notable crop production/harvest losses in the Valley, and cattle herd production losses across the ranchlands, who had the longest duration of D3 and D4 conditions.