Drought — Coastal Kenedy County, Texas

2020-03-03 to 2020-03-31 · Coastal Kenedy County, Texas

Event narrative

Severe (D2) Drought arrived in southern Kenedy County on March 3rd, and would develop in northern Kenedy County on March 17th. Central Kenedy County would remain in moderate (D1) Drought, courtesy of showers that moved through the region, keeping status quo while rain missed the northern third of the county. Just enough rainfall fell at various times during the period in southern Kenedy County to keep Severe Drought as status quo, despite near record monthly heat. This included coastal sections of the county.

Wider weather episode

The combination of above normal temperatures during the first week of the month, followed by a cooler but very dry period during the second week, with a return to much above normal temperatures for the start of the third week - all with little to no rainfall - worsened drought across all of Deep South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley through mid March. By mid March, impacts to cattle were being noted with additional water hauling necessary to help hydration, and a number of crops were not yet planted with the lack of needed rainfall combined with exceptionally high evaporation rates for early March.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 883462. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.