Power Outage in Brownsville, TX

An NWS Employee sent in a picture of a power pole leaning on Grimes Rd east of the Fire Station. Time estimated by radar and the wind gust recorded at Valley International Airport (KHRL) during the event.

An NWS Storm Survey found several areas of damage in and around the Santa Maria area in southwestern Cameron County. Most of the damage was to hard and softwood trees with several large branches snapped or broken. There was also a power pole that was broken on the west side of Santa Maria and a semi trailer blown over on the east side of town.

An NWS Employee reported two power poles blown over along Ruben Torres Blvd, just west of Oscar Dancy, across the street from Bella Vista Apartments. Time estimated by report of power outage by another NWS employee and radar.

A very electric storm over the Harlingen and La Feria area of Cameron County on July 27th produced a lightning strike that struck powerlines just outside of the KVEO news studio. Those powerlines then fell onto Interstate 2, which initially caused a backup on the interstate. Crews worked to clear the lines quickly, but had to close the interstate again that evening to repair the lines. Timing was based on radar, National Lightning Detection Network (NDLN), and a broadcast media report. No injuries, or car accidents were reported as a result of the downed powerlines.

South winds gusting to a measured 57 knots (66 mph) at the Rio Grande Valley International Airport (KHRL) and a measured 52 knots (60 mph) at the Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport (KBRO) for about 4.5 hours. The public reported several downed tree limbs, fences, and a few power poles. There were also reports of some roofing shingles pulled back in the San Benito area and car port roofs peeled back in the Harlingen area.

A tight pressure gradient between a surface high pressure off the Carolina Coast and a low pressure system over the Panhandle of Texas resulted in very windy conditions across the Rio Grande Valley throughout the day on February 16th. An estimated gust of 45 knots early in the afternoon damaged the metal roof of the Boys and Girls Club in San Benito. This caused an estimated $10,000 worth of damage and kept them to closed for the remainder of the week. Sporadic power outages were also reported across portions of Cameron County. |Note: 45 knots is equivalent to 52 mph.

Public reports received via social media showed several streets near UTRGV Brownsville Campus were flooded, and portions of the campus were without power due to lightning strikes and/or flooding.

Public reports received via social media showed several streets near UTRGV Brownsville Campus were flooded, and portions of the campus were without power due to lightning strikes and/or flooding.

Tropical Storm-force winds ravaged northern Cameron County from mid afternoon on July 25th until just after midnight on July 26th. Strongest winds occurred during the evening of July 25th, when the southern and eastern eyewall clipped the region along and north of Interstate 2 between Harlingen/Rio Hondo and La Feria north to the Willacy County line. Measured and estimated wind gusts in these areas were near hurricane force (65 mph) with sustained winds peaking between 40 and 50 mph. Harlingen/Rio Grande Valley International Airport reported a peak gust to 63 mph before taking a power loss. ||The slow movement of the inner core of Hanna allowed minor wind damage to occur in this area, with at least one hundred trees losing large limbs along with power lines and several power poles snapped or bent. Minor damage also occurred to poorly built structures along the IH-2 corridor as well as along the IH-69E corridor from Harlingen/San Benito northward. This included a number of fences blown down and a roof blown off a shed near La Feria. At the storm's peak, an estimated 50 thousand electric customers were without power. NCEI's total dollar damage estimate (divided among the affected counties by local storm data experts) was $99.75 million for inland Cameron County. Public Assistance dollar values were estimated to be $1.88 million.||Crop damage was also significant, with sugar cane snapped in many fields and young fruit being blown off citrus trees, which also sustained damage. Estimated dollar value loss based on reports from Texas Agrilife in late summer was $25.9 million in Cameron County.

The automated surface observing system at Harlingen/Valley International Airport reported a wind gust to 54 mph. A few power outages and minor tree damage was noted in the area.

Glaze ice accreted to 1/8 to 1/16 inch on trees and grasses beginning during the late afternoon of January 16th and continuing through just prior to midnight before precipitation tapered off. Temperatures, which fell to between 28 and 30 degrees in a pocket from San Benito through La Feria and toward the Willacy County line, allowed untreated elevated road surfaces to quickly glaze over. This resulted in dozens of mostly minor accidents along elevated portions of IH-2 and IH-69E during the peak and for a few hours after the evening commute. The elevated interchange between these highways was closed through the morning commute after at least two tractor-trailer trucks slid and blocked access. Other elevated portions of these and other roads, including FM-511 and SR 550 (toll) were closed due to the glaze. ||Power outages in the county exceeded 22 thousand (most likely in Cameron County), though the source may have been related more to intense usage on an early weeknight during the peak of the winter school and work season than to glaze icing alone, since accretion was light.

Harlingen Police Department reported power lines down at 809 West Hanson, 1307 North Ann Street, 1506 South G Street, 629 North 13th Street, the intersections of Tyler and L, 25th and Rio Hondo Road, and Grimes and Morgan. The winds also blew some shingles off one apartment complex, and blew off at least one poorly fastened carport on the east side of Harlingen.

A ice storm hit Cameron County where 1/8 to 1/2 inch of glaze accreted on trees, power lines, cars, and other exposed surfaces. News reports indicated 9000 customers were without electricity during the peak of the storm early on the 29th, in Harlingen, San Benito, and other communities in Cameron County. There was likely some damage to tender tropical vegetation (such as banana plants, bougainvillea, etc.) but many of these plants should recover.

Strong winds associated with the passage of a cold front surged across South Padre Island during the afternoon hours of November 22nd. The strong winds resulted in palm trees falling on power lines and the loss of power to more than 3000 local utility customer. The South Padre Island Coast Guard station reported sustained winds of 26 kts with gusts to 33 kts on the Laguna Madre side of the island and KSPI reported sustained winds of 26 kts with gusts of 31 kts.

In North Los Fresnos, two tin roofs were lifted from old, poorly constructed trailers in a colonia neighborhood just east of the intersection of FM 510 and FM 1847 (Arroyo Blvd). Severe water and structural damage occurred at each residence; insulation was peeled from the roofs and some walls had cracked or collapsed. Both structures were uninhabitable. Nine persons were displaced. Farther west along FM 510, a power pole was leaning at a 45 degree angle, and a mesquite tree was uprooted near the intersection of FM 803 and Henderson Road, about 4 miles to the southwest of the residential damage.

Light freezing drizzle, began during the mid morning hours of February 3rd. The precipitation became steadier by noon, and by 3 PM, a glaze of 1/8 inch had accreted on exposed surfaces. The steady, occasionally heavy freezing drizzle continued overnight and into the morning hours of the 4th. Overnight, the glaze accumulated further, with 3/4 to 1 inch accretion common across inland Cameron County. The highest accretion was found in the City of Brownsville, where up to 1 1/2 inches accreted on exposed surfaces such as trees, grasses, wires, and signs. ||At least 116 vehicle accidents were reported in the Brownsville/San Benito/Harlingen Metropolitan area during the 24 hour period from 6 AM on the 3rd through 6 AM on the 4th. Most of these were on elevated highways and bridges, particularly Expressways 77/83 and 83 (between Harlingen and La Feria). While the number of accidents was unfortunate, the total number was likely much lower due to early road closures; at one point, all overpasses in the county were closed to traffic due to the icing. ||While there were no fatalities in the county, there were minor injuries reported from people falling on the ice. As of this writing, there were no known injuries from falling ice, which was a clear hazard from late morning through mid afternoon of the 4th, when melting occurred.||Power outages due to the combination of cold temperatures and rolling statewide blackouts, as well as the icing, peaked at nearly 26,000 customers (American Electric Power and Brownsville PUB) during the morning of the 4th. The vast majority of the outages were a result of rolling blackouts triggered by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to mitigate worse impacts elsewhere in the state. ||The icing aggravated damages to agriculture, primarily to tropical plants. All emperor palm fronds (a tree designed for true tropical climates) were destroyed by the combination of ice accretion and long duration freeze. For more details on the overall damage to crops and livestock due to the freeze, see the episode on the freezing temperatures between February 3rd and 4th.

Hermine arrived in fits and starts, with frequent gusty feeder band showers followed by relatively calm conditions through the day and early evening of September 6th. Between 830 and 9 PM CST, the action got underway as the central core of Hermine brought a rapid increase in sustained winds and gusts, along with increasingly heavy rainfall. Between 10 PM and 11 PM CST, the northern doughnut crossed the Rio Grande over lower populated southwest Cameron County. Meanwhile, intense feeder bands east of the center, where some of the strongest winds were sampled, pounded Brownsville with sustained winds of 40 to 55 mph and gusts as high as 69 mph at the Brownsville/SPI International Airport. Between midnight and 1230 AM, a very intense band would reform around the center, curling from just south of Harlingen to north of Brownsville. This band would cross Harlingen just prior to 1 AM, and produced near hurricane force gusts (72.5 mph) along with brief sustained winds of 59 mph (at 1158 and 1159 PM CST, respectively), which damaged a number of roofs, knocked down limbs and uprooted trees, and wiped out power to more than 14,000 residents, many in the Harlingen/San Benito area. In all, between 46,000 and 50,000 customers in Cameron County were without power during the peak of the storm, including those in the AEP Texas, Brownsville PUB, and Magic Valley Electric Co-op service areas.||After the inner core of Hermine sliced through, winds quickly diminished below tropical storm force from south to north across the county, between 1230 AM CST near the river and 130 CST near the Willacy County line.||Significant damage included roof collapses to at least one apartment complex in Brownsville, and the La Casita apartments in Harlingen, displacing at least two families. A large part of an industrial building roof collapsed in north Harlingen, and other poorly constructed lightweight roofs were blown off in Brownsville and the Port of Brownsville. Hundreds of medium to large tree limbs fell along the Highway 77 corridor from Brownsville through San Benito and the central and east side of Harlingen. ||Boaters, particularly Mexican shrimping vessels, did their best to seek refuge in the Port of Brownsville prior to the arrival of the storm. The sharp increase in east winds ahead of the center's arrival drove breaking waves down the 17 mile Brownsville ship channel; some waves broke as high as the windows of the Harbormaster office. Sixty���four vessels reached the Port, but 5 others became stranded at the coast, including three running aground in Texas and two in Mexico when buoys floated toward the beach and guided the boats toward the rocks. Each boat was able to beach safely, with no human casualties.

The tornado appeared to begin near a home between Old Military Highway and Mary Lee Court, lifting a few old shingles before knocking down several large limbs in the front yard. The track continued across Old Military Highway, tipping over a water kiosk and tearing off numerous mesquite limbs before moving across Military Highway (Federal 281), where it blew down smaller mesquite trees before crossing a field and tipping over a trailer at a 45�� angle onto a recreational vehicle. Damage continued into a tree stand before ending. Well built homes in the neighborhood sustained no damage; power lines remained up and power never went out as the storm raced by.||Estimated winds were 60 to 65 mph.

Feeder bands from Hurricane Alex began producing tropical storm force wind gusts during the late morning and early afternoon of June 30th in Cameron County. As the center of Alex neared landfall about 100 to 110 miles south of the Cameron County/Mexico border, sustained winds peaked between 38 and 40 mph, with gusts peaking between 45 and 50 mph, during the late afternoon and evening (4 to 8 PM CST). ||The strong and sometimes persistent winds briefly knocked out power to at least 8,000 City of Brownsville (and nearby communities) customers, and hundreds of tree limbs were blown down, many of them small to medium sized. Minimal property damage was noted from the winds as of this writing, but did include a fireworks stand turned over, a fence blown down, and a car moved across the road by a pulse gust associated with a feeder band at 1130 AM CST along Wilson Road in Harlingen. There was no confirmation of a tornado with this report, but several funnel clouds were reported by the public at various times during the afternoon, including near La Feria (1225 PM CST), the Harlingen/Valley Airport (158 PM CST), 346 PM CST near Santa Rosa, and 6 PM CST in Brownsville.

Pendleton Park and City Park in Harlingen was under water. One lane of North Farm to Market Loop 499 was closed. Local newspapers reported water surging through city streets between 6 and 7 PM. Power was knocked out at Valley International Airport from 7 until around 830 PM from unknown causes related to the storm. A daily record of 2.77 inches of rain fell in a very short time at Valley International Airport; radar estimates suggested 3 to 4 inches fell in areas which flooded.

The approach of Hurricane Dolly to the barrier shoreline of South Padre Island early on the morning of July 23rd brought sustained tropical storm force winds inland to the east side of Brownsville, including the Port, just before 730 AM on the 23rd. Prior rainbands had produced frequent gusts to 40 mph, but the arrival of sustained tropical storm winds was soon followed by wind damage and power outages, particularly during the afternoon. Prior to Dolly's landfall along the Cameron/Willacy County line, the western and southern eyewall intensified. The core of the eyewall traversed northern Cameron County, where impacts were more substantial than in southern Cameron County.||Northern Cameron (Harlingen, San Benito, Rio Hondo): A period of estimated and measured sustained winds betwee 60 and 70 mph, with frequent gusts to hurricane force (at least 78 mph measured at 2.25 meters), developed around 1 PM and continue through around 5 PM, beginning in northeast Cameron County near Arroyo City and extending west through Las Yescas, Rio Hondo, Harlingen, San Benito, Palm Valley, and La Feria, not only created widespread freshwater flooding, but created notable damage to poorly fastened roofs and some walls, particularly at industrial parks, strip centers, and farm buildings, especially from Harlingen to points east. Otherwise, numerous large limbs, power lines and power poles, highway signs and billboards, were blown down across the area during this time period.||As Dolly's center eased slowly from southern Willacy into northern Hidalgo County, the last of the sustained tropical storm force winds began to exit Cameron County from Palm Valley to Santa Rosa and La Feria, just after midnight on the 24th.||Southern Cameron: Along and just north of the Rio Grande, from the Kellers Corner/Brownsville Airport area through Brownsville and to points west, roughly along federal highway 281 through Los Indios out toward the Hidalgo/Cameron County line, conditions were a bit more benign, as the core of the southern and western eyewall generally missed the area. Here, sustained tropical storm force winds persisted from around 830 AM until 6 PM, though gusts above 40 mph persisted until near midnight. In this area, sustained wind generally peaked between 45 and 55 mph, with peak gusts just below hurricane force between 1130 AM and 2 PM. Here, damage was primarily to thousands of tree limbs, hundreds of power lines, and many elevated highway signs and billboards, but structural damage was primarily to unfastened shingles of roofs of moderate to well constructed buildings, and occasional failures of more poorly constructed roofs at industrial parks and farm buildings. ||At the peak of the storm, power was out to just about all of Cameron County, with an estimated 115,000 customers down during the middle of the afternoon. Across northern Cameron County, power recovery would take days to more than a week, while many locations in southern Cameron County returned to power within a few days after Dolly's passage.

The severe thunderstorm which caused structure, vehicle, and power line damage moments earlier in Santa Rosa roared into the northern portion of Harlingen, eventually producing an 86 mph wind gust at Valley International Airport (KHRL) at exactly 405 AM, which blew off portions of three hangar roofs on the airport grounds. Pieces from one of these roofs, made of heavier asphalt underlines, knocked out at least two large windows in the control tower! In a nearby neighborhood just west of the airport, generally well constructed buildings fared well; however, dozens of large tree limbs were snapped and some fences were partially blown down.||The storm continued to produce damage farther east, with a 25 square foot portion of one residence's roof ripped away by the winds in Las Yescas. The storm gradually weakened as it headed through largely uninhabited eastern Cameron County, on its way to dissipation in the Gulf.

The severe thunderstorm which caused structure, vehicle, and power line damage moments earlier in Santa Rosa roared into the northern portion of Harlingen, eventually producing an 86 mph wind gust at Valley International Airport (KHRL) at exactly 405 AM, which blew off portions of three hangar roofs on the airport grounds. Pieces from one of these roofs, made of heavier asphalt underlines, knocked out at least two large windows in the control tower! In a nearby neighborhood just west of the airport, generally well constructed buildings fared well; however, dozens of large tree limbs were snapped and some fences were partially blown down.||The storm continued to produce damage farther east, with a 25 square foot portion of one residence's roof ripped away by the winds in Las Yescas. The storm gradually weakened as it headed through largely uninhabited eastern Cameron County, on its way to dissipation in the Gulf.

Strong and gusty southeast winds persisted through the night of the 17th and into the morning of the 18th, where they pulsed up once again along the Federal Highway 77 corridor between Brownsville and Harlingen. Sustained winds of 40 mph were recorded at Valley International Airport at 952 AM CST, with a peak gust to 52 mph at 1044 CST; sustained winds of 43 mph were recorded at the Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport sometime between 830 and 10 AM CST, with a peak gust of 52 mph at 929 AM CST. Additional power outages from fallen lines, and/or tree limbs having fallen on them, were noted during the morning of the 18th from Brownsville to Harlingen.

Very strong and gusty winds cranked up just before noon along the Federal Highway 77 corridor, reaching near or at 40 mph between Noon and 3:30 PM, along with a peak gust to 54 mph at Valley International Airport at 12:27 PM. The highest sustained wind was recorded at approximately 2:52 PM CT. Several power lines were knocked down from Brownsville to Harlingen, and a tree fell onto power lines at 112 Dew Street in Harlingen. It is likely that at least one thousand residents were temporarily without power during the peak wind period.

Strong to high winds developed along the Federal Highway 77 corridor during the late morning and afternoon of March 2nd, continuing overnight and into the late morning of the 3rd. The strongest winds, occurring just after noon on the 2nd, blew an awning off of a western wear store at 1606 77 Sunset Strip (Business Federal Highway 77) in Harlingen; a sign was also blown down at Valley Vista Mall. Sporadic power outages were also reported in some areas. A wind gust of 55 mph was recorded at Valley International Airport in northeast Harlingen at 1:37 PM CT, and sustained 1 minute winds of 45 mph were also reported at time to be determined.||Sustained winds of 36 mph, with gusts to 42 mph, were reported at the Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport during the early afternoon as well.

The Valley Morning Star newspaper reported electrical lines downed by strong winds on West moran Court and 23rd Street. At least two trees were blown down between Harlingen and La Feria, with one across the intersection of Parker and Ebony in La Feria. Numerous customers were without power during the peak of the storm. Sustained winds reached 44 mph, with gusts to 52 mph, at the Valley International Airport east of Harlingen at 2:53 PM CST; at Brownsville International Airport, sustained winds reached 41 mph at 2:26 PM CST.

Strong north winds behind a cold front helped contribute to the collapse of a roof to a warehouse in Brownsville. The sheet metal roof knocked down power lines, damaged cars and landed on a nearby building on the same property. Winds were gusting to between 35 and 40 mph that day at the nearest official observation site of Brownsville.

A very strong heavy precipitation type supercell did extensive straight line wind damage to Laguna Vista, Laguna heights, Port Isabel and South Padre Island on the evening of May the 2nd. A National Weather Service ground survey team reported that all debris was oriented from northwest to southeast. The storm first struck the Laguna Heights and Laguna Vista communities between 820 and 835 PM CDT. Then it struck Port Isabel and South Padre Island between 840 PM and 900 PM CDT. These damaging winds knocked down 50 power poles. In addition, the damaging thunderstorm winds knocked down power lines and trees. Approximately 8800 customers were left without power and schools were closed in Port Isabel on May 3rd and 4th. Many residents reported damage to roofs, awnings, signs, canopies, marinas, and garage doors. Windows were shattered by the strong winds. The United States Coast Guard Office reported 106 knots or 122 mph winds before power failed at the Coast Guard station. Several recreational vehicles parked at Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island were tossed on their sides. Hail the size of golfballs was reported at South Padre Island. Total damage to the utility lines and poles was estimated to be around 3 million dollars. Total damage done to the rest of the area was around 2 million. In all, it was estimated that approximately 5 million dollars of damage was done to the bayfront communities and South Padre Island.

Strong to severe thunderstorms ahead of a strong cold front raced along the Rio Grande from the evening of April 28th into the morning of April 29th. The initial phase of the storms produced large hail across Zapata and Starr Counties the evening of April 28th. The storms congealed into a squall line along the Rio Grande in southeastern Starr County and southwestern Hidalgo County just before midnight. This squall line went on to race across southern Hidalgo County, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. ||An official NWS Storm Survey concluded the squall line produced several gusts between 75 to 85 mph at the surface, with higher gusts experienced at higher levels. Some of the damage included a plane being destroyed at McAllen-Miller International Airport; numerous poorly anchored roofs lifted off buildings; dozens, if not hundreds, of broken power poles; and dozens of damaged or destroyed billboards. ||The storms then went on to produce more damage across southeastern Hidalgo County and into eastern Cameron County early in the morning of April 29th. Another official NWS Storm Survey concluded winds of 70 to 80 mph were experienced here, which downed several trees and power poles, a few metal roofs lifted off and caused numerous power outages.||Total damage was unknown due to the large number of locations impacted. A state disaster declaration was given for Hidalgo County following the event, and dollar damages and recovery costs were expected to be more than $50 million. Those numbers will be updated when available at a later date.||Times listed for individual wind events along the NWS Storm Survey were based on best estimates of when the strongest winds occurred; in general, strongest winds at or above severe limits (58 mph) likely lasted between 5 and 8 minutes either side of the listed time.

A developing surface low across eastern Texas combined with a 50 knot jet at 925mb and 850mb to bring occasional gusts over 58 mph to portions of Cameron County on Tuesday, January 24th. There were several reports of power outages, a light pole that fell onto a car in Port Isabel, and an unanchored roof blown off a mobile home in Santa Rosa.

A vigorous thunderstorm in Cameron County on July 27th produced frequent lightning near the Harlingen and La Feria areas. One such lightning strike struck a power pole just off Interstate 2, very close to KVEO/KGBT, around 2:50PM CDT, which then caused powerlines to fall onto the Interstate. Traffic was diverted around the area as crews worked to replace the line, which was completed around 8:30PM CDT.

A developing surface low across western Texas combined with a strong jet at 925mb and 850mb to bring frequent gusts over 58 mph to portions of the Rio Grande Valley on Monday, March 21st. The San Benito to Los Fresnos to Harlingen area was the hardest hit with several power outages reported, tree limbs snapped, car ports damaged, and shingles peeled back.

Hurricane Hanna, the 2020 Atlantic season's first Hurricane, made landfall along the unpopulated Padre Island National Seashore on the mid-Kenedy County coastline as a Category 1 storm at around 5 PM Central Time Saturday, July 25th, carrying sustained 90 mph winds with gusts over 100 mph in a small portion of the inner eye wall. The hurricane spun slowly but steadily into southern Kenedy and northern Hidalgo County through just after midnight on the 26th, then through Starr County as a Tropical Storm before moving into Tamaulipas before daybreak and eventually near Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, by noon before dissipating during the evening of the 26th. Following the passage of the inner eye wall, broad feeder bands of torrential rains and gusty tropical storm force winds continued through the mid to late morning hours of July 26th, slowly migrating from east to west across the populated Rio Grande Valley. ||Other than storm surge flooding, which peaked just north of Baffin Bay on the Kleberg and Nueces County coast near Corpus Christi, Hanna's memory for the Rio Grande Valley will be flooding rainfall, power outages, and an array of damage to poorly constructed buildings, from minor roof damage to complete demolition. Between 8 and 15 inches of rain fell from Port Mansfield to Harlingen, and along Interstate Highway 2 out through Mission and Sullivan City. The combination of high rainfall, locally high rainfall rates, and poor drainage left between 18 inches and four feet of water depth in many areas, most commonly from western Cameron through southeastern Hidalgo County, as well as a separate pocket in the Mission/La Joya/Sullivan City area. The rainfall wiped out 95% of the region's cotton crop; the combination of crop loss and production loss was more than one third of a billion dollars alone ($366 million)...most of which was in the Rio Grande Valley region. ||At the peak of the storm, 250 thousand electric customers were without power, including all of Willacy County. Though storm surge was cut short by strong westerly flow across Cameron County, radiating swells did produce a notable surge of 3 feet or greater (estimated) from near Port Mansfield through Kenedy County. When the damage and economic loss is counted to infrastructure and agriculture combined, it is likely that Hanna cost at least one billion dollars across the Rio Grande Valley and the Deep S. Texas ranch country.

An upper level disturbance that moved over northeast Mexico with remnant tropical moisture from the eastern Pacific Tropical Storm Priscilla produced a short period of potent thunderstorms that developed in northeast Mexico and moved quickly through Cameron County from the late evening of October 20th into the pre-dawn hours of October 21st. Individual cells raced northward at 30 mph, with wind gusts between 30 and 40 mph, from just before midnight through 3 or 4 AM. An organized stronger cluster developed a little after 2 AM, and peaked in intensity just after 230 AM. During the intensification process the cluster became a rotating thunderstorms, with a radar-indicated tornadic circulation near Boca Chica Beach. Farther north, two downburst signatures were noted, including a pulse microburst near Bayview and a more linear downburst signature that crossed South Padre Island. During the peak of the storms in Cameron County, more than 16 thousand AEP Texas utility customers lost power, and at one point all of South Padre Island had lost power due to 31 transmission poles that were taken down by the wind.

A weak, closed off upper level low pressure system centered over the Rio Grande Valley triggered a few strong thunderstorms that affected Cameron County on September 10th. Wind gusts over 50 mph occurred, but damage was minimal but included some power outages around Harlingen.

Just 367 days after the last of the Great June Flood of 2018 had left its memorable mark on nearly all of the populated Rio Grande Valley, a confluence of atmospheric events came together during the late afternoon and evening of June 24th, 2019, to produce another memorable - and unfortunate - situation for parts of the Rio Grande Valley. This time, the impacted area was smaller and less populated but the results the same. For most of Willacy County's population, the western third of Cameron, and a corner of eastern Hidalgo, significant impacts were noted. These included:||Over a foot of rain fell in about six hours, including a peak total of more than 15 inches near Santa Rosa (Cameron/Hidalgo line); hundreds of streets flooded, including 30 Texas-managed highways; 1,188 homes were considered destroyed or incurring major damage requiring significant repairs, with an additional 182 homes sustaining minor damage or mildly affected (as of July 10). Individual Assistance (IA) costs were estimated at $27.6 million. Public Assistance (PA) costs were likely over $5 million, but totals were not available as of this writing. Total damage was likely to range from $50 to $100 million or more when all estimates have been received, and final estimated may not be known until late 2019.||More than 100 persons were evacuated to safe high ground from dozens of homes threatened by 2 or more feet of water in several locations in each county. At least 45,000 private and public utility power customers were without power at the peak of the storm, and estimated 65 to 75 mph winds caused at least five poorly built mobile homes to be rolled or demolished in eastern Hidalgo County. Lightning struck a wind turbine and set it ablaze in Willacy County, costing an estimated $5 million in damage.|New daily rainfall records were set at most available Rio Grande Valley climate recording locations. These totals ranged from 2.06 inches in Brownsville to 15.20 inches in Santa Rosa.

A rapidly developing line of thunderstorms raced northward through Cameron County east of US 77, creating gusts over 40 mph and causing minor damage to a few tree limbs, unfastened lawn furniture, and a few power lines.

The third wintry precipitation event of a six-week period of repeated sharp cold snaps may have had the greatest impact on both Rio Grande Valley residents and agricultural interests. ||A strong cold front swept through the Ranchlands just before daybreak, and the rest of the Rio Grande Valley by around 8 AM, on January 16th. The strongest surface high pressure system of the winter quickly descended on the southern tip of Texas, with temperatures falling rapidly below freezing by mid to late morning across the Rio Grande Plains ranchlands, and into the 30s soon after noon elsewhere across the Valley. Drainage of the modified arctic air maximized across colder pockets of the more|populated Rio Grande Valley, and by the peak of the late afternoon/early evening commute, subfreezing temperatures had nosed into Weslaco, Elsa/Edcouch, Harlingen, and Raymondville. The 24 hour temperature difference from 4 PM January 15th to 4 PM January 16th ranged from 35 to 45��F; when adding the brutal northerly winds, the ���feels like��� temperature difference between the two days was up to a whopping 55|degrees colder (peaking in the Lower Valley between Brownsville and Raymondville)!||Accompanying the rapid temperature crash was spotty precipitation. Light freezing rain and a bit of sleet produced glazing across Hebbronville by mid to late morning, which continued into the early afternoon. Drier low level air arrive by late afternoon, and precipitation ceased across the Rio Grande Plains at or before sunset. Farther east, a pocket of evaporative cooling in the precipitation formation zone of the atmosphere|combined with just enough mid level energy to kick off a brief but surprising period of light snow (no impact) from Rio Grande City through the McAllen metropolitan area during the mid-afternoon, while surface temperatures were at or just above freezing. The snow (and some sleet) was conversational more than anything, and precipitation north and west of the populated Rio Grande Valley ended prior to notable impacts.||Such was not the case for much of the Rio Grande Valley���s population, along and near Interstate Highway (IH) 2, the south end of IH 69C (Edinburg to Pharr), and IH 69E (Brownsville to Harlingen). Light freezing drizzle developed prior to sunset as a nose of subfreezing temperatures slid southeast, with readings falling to between 28��F and 30��F from Weslaco to Harlingen and south toward north Brownsville. Though the|precipitation was light and for a shorter duration ��� 6 to 9 hours ��� than the nearly 24 hours of similar precipitation experienced during the February 3-4 2011 Ice Storm, impacts to elevated road surfaces and some power lines was both notable and dangerous. The early arrival of the glaze, in some locations prior to sunset|and during the end of the afternoon commute, caused vehicles to slide on the highways and would soon force closures of most elevated roadways (there is more than 80 miles in both directions) which continued through mid morning of the 17th before the ice would melt or evaporate. Unfortunately, more than two dozen accidents were reported on elevated highways prior to the closures, which diverted traffic onto frontage roads where ground temperatures were above freezing.||The combination of glaze ice and very cold temperatures, which led to statewide record electricity use (according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT), may have contributed to the more than 22,000 customers without power during the peak of the cold and icing, during the pre-dawn hours of January 17th. Numerous ���blue flashes��� of transformers were seen overnight from the 16th through the 17th before daybreak.

A blast of very dry air, fed by strong northwest flow at all levels of the atmosphere that originated from the Pacific, rather than the North Pole, surged through the southern Rockies and Sierra Madre Oriental on its way to south Texas and the Rio Grande Valley on January 11th, 2018. Downslope flow during the afternoon of the 11th pushed temperatures well into the 80s, but dropped humidity into the teens as northwest winds picked up to 15 to 25 mph, on average.||The true front arrived by mid to late afternoon across the Rio Grande Plains and South Texas Brush Country ranchlands, then surged into the Rio Grande Valley from sunset through 11 PM. Very strong winds, as high as 60 mph just above the surface, slammed into the region, creating scattered power outages, a number of grass fires, and localized wind damage to trees, power poles, and some roofs. Downed power lines caused numerous small grass fires between Edinburg and Mission, with additional small trees/limbs down in Combes (near Harlingen). At Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport, a blown down line sparked a small wildfire just down the road from the NWS office. Sustained winds of 25 to 35 mph with frequent gusts ranging|from 40 to nearly 55 mph lasted for about three hours in most inland locations, but up to nine hours along the Lower Texas coast, where the moderate gale persisted well into the night of the 11th and into the pre-dawn hours of the 12th|. |Preliminary power outage statistics across the Valley suggested between 3,000 and 5,000 customers lost power during the peak of the gusts, based on preliminary reports from local power providers.

A broken line of thunderstorms marched across the Rio Grande Valley through the late afternoon and evening hours and combined with other development across Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas, Mexico to form a convective system. This initially stabilized the atmosphere and held back development. However, the continued flow from the east/northeast ran into northward moving boundaries from storms in Tamaulipas/Nuevo Leon to form a severe storm over Port Isabel and South Padre Island, with the first report of large hail at 745 pm LST. Soon after, outflow from this storm would link up with others from the Mexico storms and a small but potent local convective system soon formed between Harlingen and Brownsville. Downburst winds, reached 58 mph at KHRL and knocked down a number of power lines, blew some shingles off one apartment complex, and blew off at least one poorly fastened carport on the east side of Harlingen. Strong winds from the south, once again, due to the sharp difference in high and low pressure within the region ��� propagated through the Lower Rio Grande Valley, producing a 60 mph gust at KHRL just after 12 am LST on the 19th and causing additional damage to at least one tin roof (Bass Boulevard, west side) and at least one fence in town. Additional minor damage may have occurred in Brownsville during the same period, as the peak wind at KBRO reached 54 mph at 1255 am LST on the 19th. In addition intense rains dropped generally 2 to 4 inches in Brownsville, with several known poor drainage intersections seeing nuisance flooding.

The passage of a cold front along with deepening low pressure over the western Gulf of Mexico produced strong and gusty northwesterly winds across the Rio Grande Valley. Peak wind gusts in excess of 40 mph were measured across Cameron and Hidalgo counties, causing power outages that left almost 10,000 customers without power, grass fires, downing a tree and a traffic signal.

Deep tropical moisture pooled ahead of a dissipating late season front across the ranchlands, and combined with an impulse of jet stream energy during the afternoon and evening hours of May 11th. This resulted in a broken area of diurnally driven late afternoon showers and thunderstorms, which was followed by more widespread and slow moving thunderstorms after sunset which ultimately developed into a convective system that produced flash flooding concentrated from southeast Starr and southwest Hidalgo counties and extended northeast through rural northern Hidalgo and eastern Brooks counties, including Linn/San Manuel, McCook, Encino, and Falfurrias. There were at least a dozen water rescues in and near Rio Grande City, including the Las Lomas neighborhood and Garciasville, where some homes had up to 3 feet of water inside them after a likely combination of freshwater (drainage) and arroyo flooding from an estimated/measure five to seven inches of rain in two to three hours. Portions of U.S. 83 were closed in southeast Starr County, mainly from Rio Grande City to near the Hidalgo County line, due to standing water of 2 to 4 feet. Along and near Farm to Market Road 1017 and extending southeast to areas north and east of Edinburg, including Faysville and Monte Alto, poor drainage flooding resulted in water rescues that continued well into May 12th. The flooding was not isolated to rural areas of the Mid and Upper Valley. Torrential rains slid into the McAllen/Weslaco/Donna area, where nuisance flooding with water levels up to two feet was noted well after midnight when 2 to 3 inches of rain piled up. Significant flooding was noted in Hebbronville when storms clustered just before sunset, with up to a foot of water in most areas, including some into at least one building, along with water rescues. Conditions worsened farther east in and near Falfurrias, where an estimated and measured 5 to 7 inches resulted in minor to moderate urban flooding, with several water rescues in one to two feet of water throughout town just after sunset. High standing water, 1 to 1 �� feet, continued through the night.|Embedded within the flood-producing thunderstorm clusters were hail and damaging wind producing storms. Quarter size hail was reported with the evening storms on May 11th. In addition, a small convective vortex injected into the system near Edinburg, producing estimated wind up to 70 mph from Elsa/Edcouch to La Villa, which caused damage to older structures, trees (mainly ash), and power lines and poles.

A small cluster of thunderstorms developed over eastern Nuevo Le��n State, Mexico, during the mid-evening of April 24th and sped north northeast across the Rio Grande River and over the Rio Grande Valley. The initial cell evolved into a straight line wind event as it crossed the river slamming the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge in Santa Ana. In only fifteen minutes, structural, tree, and powerline/power pole damage piled up from Alamo to Mercedes, extending north to pockets in Edinburg, Elsa, and Edcouch. The heaviest damage was noted in Donna and Weslaco, where a National Weather Service survey, joined by Emergency Management from Weslaco/Donna/Mercedes, Elsa/Edcouch, and Hidalgo County, determined peak winds ranged from 65 to 75 mph, with pockets of 80 mph speeds based on the type of damage, exposure, and construction. A second core of strong winds ripped through southwest Cameron County, with unknown tree damage in the Santa Maria/Los Indios area that continued northeast into the Harlingen/Primera area before exiting near Rio Hondo. Damage estimates are expected to surpass $500 thousand.

Northerly flow on the back side of a departing upper level disturbance, combined with hot, humid, unstable air along the Rio Grande to promote several areas of strong to severe thunderstorms. More than an hour of heavy rainfall produced urban flooding in La Joya between 330 and 4 pm, with high water continuing through 430 pm. The large storm cell surged from northeast Cameron County through Bayview, then on into Brownsville between 4 and 445 pm. Additional cells formed on outflows and continued the heavy rains west of Harlingen through around 6 pm, with between 3.25 and 4.7 inches having fallen. Scattered reports of large hail, urban flooding, frequent cloud to ground lightning strikes, and pockets of wind damage to tree limbs and power lines was common.||The last surge of intense storms occurred just before sunset, as remnant boundaries fired in a small area of southern Starr County, around and just north of Rio Grande City. An intense but brief updraft surged into the storm and resulted in reports of quarter sized hail or larger.

A weak upper level disturbance approached South Texas and provided just enough mid-level drying and cooling to destabilize the atmosphere during the hottest part of the day. Scattered thunderstorms quickly developed along and just east of the mountains by 4 to 5 pm and by early evening, storms organized across the South Texas Brush Country and the Rio Grande Plains. Energy and boundaries from the storms combined with speedy west to east winds well above the surface and organized them into a line just before sunset. Initial lines along the forming ling produced strong gusty winds that caused pockets of damage in Jim Hogg, Zapata, and Starr County. Two clusters of developing storms merged into a northeast to southwest oriented line at around 7 pm, extending from western Starr County through western Brooks County. The line would plow eastwards, with a number of individual stronger cells embedded within the line. As the line neared Hidalgo County, the strongest cells were found north of the Rio Grande Valley. The action continued to press southeast during the mid-evening. After a slight weakening, the squall reintensified as it moved east of US 77 from southern Kenedy County to the Rio Grande River. The strongest measured wind gusts occurred between 10 and 1130 pm in these areas, with many locations recording gusts over 50 mph. The storms knocked out power to some communities, including parts of South Padre Island, and caused significant disruption to evening flights in and out of Harlingen and Brownsville.

A combination of cold high pressure near the earth���s surface combined with an upper level disturbance that moved across northern Mexico late on the 28th through the early morning of the 29th brought rain that froze on contact with exposed surfaces, resulting in an icy glaze across much of the Rio Grande Valley during the early morning hours. The glaze covered exposed surfaces such as trees and grasses, power lines/poles, fences, vehicles, roofs, and more. The rain also created some icing on elevated highways and bridges. By the time the precipitation ended, generally around 7 AM across the mid Valley and a little after 8 AM on the coast, between 1/8 inch and 1/2 inch of ice accreted. The rain mixed with ice pellets (sleet) at times, particularly between 4 and 6 AM. Across the Valley, generally minor inconveniences were noted, mainly from power outages. News reports indicated 12,000 customers were without electricity during the peak of the storm early on the 29th, in Port Isabel, Bayview, Harlingen, San Benito, and other communities. Most hearty plants quickly sprung back after being weighted down by the ice. There was likely some damage to tender tropical vegetation (such as banana plants, bougainvillea, etc.) but many of these plants should recover.

A small but potent line of strong to severe thunderstorms dumped torrential rains, produced frequent lightning strikes, and slammed heavy winds across much of the Rio Grande Valley during the afternoon of April 28th. ||A microburst powered up when it reached Cameron County, and ultimately caused significant damage to two poorly built mobile trailers in northern Los Fresnos. Surrounding damage in Olmito, Rancho Viejo, and other neighborhoods included dozens of snapped mesquite limbs, several uprooted trees, and at least one leaning power pole.||Heavy rainfall - the highest for any single event since January - dropped between 1 and 4 inches across portions of the Lower and Mid Valley. Pockets of urban and farm field flooding were noted as much of the rain fell within an hour and runoff or fast rising water was common.

Vigorous energy cycling around a seasonally strong upper level disturbance crashing into Texas brought a final round of potent thunderstorms through much of the Rio Grande Valley during the late night hours of May 10th into daybreak on May 11th. Initial severe thunderstorms and isolated tornadoes pummeled the Coastal Bend and South Texas Plains from Corpus Christi to near Laredo during the evening of the 10th. As night progressed, pockets of colder air behind the initial line pushed its west end southward; just before midnight, this end would link up with individual cells moving off the Sierra Madre west of Zapata County and form a separate, smaller line from Jim Hogg to Zapata County. This line quickly intensified and dumped heavy rain, high winds some large hail, and one confirmed tornado. As the line marched from the Ranchlands into the Rio Grande Valley, it weakened a bit; as the remnants neared the coast before daybreak, individual small rotating storms developed and redeveloped in Cameron County, with several reports of funnel clouds and at least one confirmed tornado in San Benito (just after 3 AM) from a few hours prior to until just after daybreak on the 11th.||While minor flooding was reported across some of the hilly terrain of the Rio Grande Plains, rainfall was more welcome in the Lower and Mid Valley, with many locations between San Benito, Harlingen, and McAllen receiving 1 to 2 inches of soaking. Frequent to excessive lightning strikes knocked out power to portions of the Rio Grande Valley as the intense storms passed; the lightning caused one structure fire in Pharr.

The combination of an arctic airmass with the approach of an upper level disturbance lifted a limited amount of low level moisture into light precipitation, which started by mid morning in Cameron and Willacy County, then spread into Hidalgo County during the afternoon and eventually across all of Deep South Texas by evening of February 3rd. The glaze ice became mixed with or changed to sleet across the Rio Grande Plains, from western Starr and Jim Hogg County into Zapata County. Persistent northwesterly winds across the longest fetch of Falcon Lake aided lift downwind, with a band of moderate snow leaving around an inch after midnight in Falcon Heights (Starr County).||The glaze ice, falling on numerous untreated bridges and overpasses, forced these roads to close from the afternoon of the 3rd through the afternoon of the 4th. Early notification may have limited the number of accidents as most school districts in the Lower Valley and a number of businesses closed ahead of the precipitation; still, at least 194 crashes were reported, mostly after the onset of the precipitation during the late morning and early afternoon of February 3rd. Power outages increased through the event, but most were due to rolling blackouts state-wide due to frigid to near record cold temperatures. Nearly 65,000 customers in the Rio Grande Valley were without power during all or part of the Ice Storm.

A persistent are of showers and thunderstorms over the extreme southwestern Gulf of Mexico east of the City of Veracruz, Mexico, during the early morning hours of Sunday, September 5th, 2010, gradually organized into Tropical Depression Number 10 shortly after sunset. Convection increased overnight on the 5th and into the early morning hours of Monday, September 6th, as the system began moving northward, and Tropical Storm Hermine was born at 4 AM CDT on the 6th. Hermine tracked steadily north���northwestward while gradually intensifying on the 6th, reaching the coast of northeastern Tamaulipas State, Mexico, about 40 miles south of Brownsville at 830 PM CDT with peak sustained winds estimated at 65 mph.||Hermine would track to the north���northwest at a steady 14 mph, with the center of circulation crossing the Rio Grande near Los Indios (Cameron County) at around midnight on Tuesday, September 7th. The center reached Harlingen at around 1 AM, Raymondville at around 2 AM, and progressed through the west portion of the King Ranch before exiting Deep South Texas near Falfurrias at around 5 AM. During that time, peak 1 minute sustained winds around the east periphery of the cyclone lessened only slightly, falling from 60 to 50 mph.||A swath of damaging winds and flooding rains pounded Brownsville, Harlingen, and Raymondville as the eyewall of Hermine tracked along and east of Federal Highway 77 in Cameron and Willacy Counties. Peak wind gusts reached or exceeded 70 mph, causing widespread damage to trees and power lines. Rainfall of more than 3 inches in just a few hours flooded roads and farmland, especially in a small swath from northeast Cameron County to southern Willacy County. More than 250,000 residents were impacted by the core of Hermine during the middle of the night, making for a memorable end to the Labor Day weekend. The rapid movement and small core did not allow enough water to build up to a true storm surge in Cameron and Willacy County; tide departures peaked around 1.5 feet which produced run-up to the dune line and closed the county beach access points on South Padre Island to vehicular traffic.||Hermine's near-hurricane force gust punch knocked down hundreds of tree limbs, tore off a number of roofs, blew down dozens of fences, and knocked power out to more than 55,000 area residents during the peak of the storm. In all, several millions of dollars in damage likely occurred to structures in the path of the core circulation of Hermine, including the inner eye wall and next level of core circulation on the east side of the center, which produced tropical storm force winds toward the coastline and into the Lower Texas Gulf waters. A federal emergency was declared for Cameron, Willacy, and Kenedy County based on initial impacts. Final damage statistics will be available later in autumn, 2010.

Feeder bands from intensifying Hurricane Alex produced a prolonged period of locally heavy rain, gusty winds, and a few tornadoes during the day and evening of June 30th. The center of Alex drifted north-northwest from early evening on the 29th until mid morning of the 30th, reaching a point a little more than 100 miles southeast of Brownsville before accelerating westward into the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico, during the late afternoon and evening. While accelerating, Alex rapidly gained strength as the inner eyewall tightened; at landfall around 8 PM CST on June 30th, Alex had reached 109 mph, just shy of Category 3 (111 mph) strength with a central pressure of 946 mb.||Steady, locally torrential rains added up to roughly 6 to 9 inches for the entire episode across the Lower Rio Grande Valley, and 4 to 6 inches elsewhere. Some locations may have received nearly 10 inches of rain. Three tornadoes were spotted during the morning of June 30th, including two causing notable damage in Cameron County. Sustained tropical storm force winds were limited to Cameron, Willacy, and coastal Kenedy Counties, though gusts to tropical storm force (39 mph or greater) occurred in central and eastern Hidalgo County, covering the more populated Lower Rio Grande Valley. ||Wind damage was minor, at best, outside of locations where tornadoes touched down - and concentrated mainly along and near the coastline. The lack of persistent strong winds minimized power outages, with an estimated 9,000 customers without power across the Rio Grande Valley at the peak of the storm, 8,000 in Cameron County alone. Though property damage was minimal throughout the Lower Rio Grande Valley, nearly $10 million in sorghum grain damage alone was reported in Hidalgo County, a consequence not only of the rainfall but the timing of the rain during a critical growing period.||The heavy rains flooded many poor drainage locations across the Lower Valley, but nowhere near the impact Hurricane Dolly had in 2008, when a band of 12 to 18 inches fell from Laguna Vista through Harlingen toward Raymondville and into eastern Hidalgo County - falling on top of wet soils from previous rains in early July of that year. For Alex, modestly dry conditions through June allowed some of the rains to soak into the ground, reducing the impact of urban and flash flooding during and soon after the event ended.||Significantly worse conditions were noted across the border in Matamoros and Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Local rainfall estimates of 10 inches or more combined with poor drainage conditions flooded out six colonias in Matamoros, caused widespread urban type flooding to 400 neighborhoods (80% of the city) and caused significant travel issues. 4,000 residents sought shelter from the floods. In Reynosa, immediately across the border from the City of Hidalgo and Pharr in Hidalgo County, 80 colonias flooded and 15 trees were uprooted, and another seven neighborhoods flooded in nearby Rio Bravo. ||Substantially worse conditions were seen in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, where torrential rains in the area and along the Sierra Madre Oriental foothills, creating record flows and life-taking flash flooding along the normally dry Santa Catarina River, which set a record flow of 2500 cubic meters per second (cms), or 88,000 cubic feet per second. Estimated rainfall of more than 16 inches fell toward the mountains in a short period of time. Damage was estimated at more than $1.35 billion (USD) as of August 5th.||Incredible rains, perhaps 50 to 70 inches, fell along the east facing slopes of the Sierra Madre in Nuevo Leon and Coahuila State with Alex, and Tropical Depression Number 2 to follow a week later. The one-two punch would ultimately lead to record flooding along the Rio Grande into the Rio Grande Valley for much of July. See the July report for full details. ||For data tables and local summaries, go to http://weather.gov/rgv/?n=2010_alexindex.

Hurricane Dolly, the first storm since Bret (1999) to make landfall along the Deep South Texas barrier islands, left a trail of widespread minor to moderate structural and natural damage across much of the Lower Rio Grande Valley and Deep South Texas on July 23rd, and dumped copious rainfall across the area, causing numerous instances of flooding primarily of low lying and poor drainage locations, as well as filling local resacas and arroyos, and causing notable rises on larger area creeks and rivers. Dolly intensified rapidly to an estimated minimum pressure of 962 mb while drifting northward just east of South Padre Island, and its center made landfall between 1 and 2 PM on July 23rd along the unpopulated shoreline of Cameron and Willacy County. Dolly then eased westward across southern Willacy County through the afternoon, continued into extreme northern Hidalgo County as a tropical storm during the evening, then turned northwest and accelerated through Jim Hogg County during the early morning hours of the 24th, passing into Webb County shortly after sunrise.||The strong winds and heavy rains contributed to widespread power outages in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, where at least 236,000 customers lost power, but possibly upwards of 250,000 - primarily across the more populated regions of Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy County. Agricultural experts deemed a substantial loss of cotton and sorghum due to the strong winds and torrential rain. As of the end of Calendar Year 2008, estimated insured property damage (wind) based on the standard doubling of insurance estimates from the Property Claims Service of the Insurance Services Office was $1.05 billion. Reported insured flood damage from FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program is $171 thousand; however, it is estimated that the vast majority of flood damage occurred to uninsured properties, and a rough estimate of total flood damage, which was more widespread, and includes agricultural losses, will likely push total flood-related damages to between $100 and $300 million. ||It is conceivable that total damage from all Hurricane Dolly related hazards may have exceeded $1.5 billion.||More than 6,000 Lower Rio Grande Valley residents were housed in temporary shelters from Deep South Texas to San Antonio at the peak of the storm; 13,000 residents across the Lower Rio Grande Valley visited FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers after the storm. As of October 3rd, FEMA had distributed $44 million in relief; $30 million to individual households, nearly $10 million to small businesses through the Small Business Administration, and just under $5 million to local governments for infrastructure repair.||Please note that best estimates will be included on a county by county basis as data is received through the rest of the year. ||Storm total rainfall from the evening of July 22nd through the early afternoon of July 24th generally ranged from 4 to 10 inches in Kenedy, Brooks, Starr, Jim Hogg, and Zapata Counties, and 6 to 14 inches in Hidalgo, Willacy, and Cameron Counties, with locally more than 18 inches possible in the persistent southern eyewall in northern Cameron and southern Willacy Counties. Widespread freshwater flooding occurred in these areas as Dolly moved through, and low lying, poor drainage, or areas where drainage systems failed were flooded for days, and in some cases weeks, to come.||The late intensification of Dolly just prior to landfall, combined with a brief northward jog before turning to the west along the Cameron/Willacy County line, limited Gulf storm surge effects across the Town of South Padre Island through mid morning on the 23rd. However, hurricane force west winds whipped an estimated 3 to 4 foot water rise from Laguna Madre across the Town, with water briefly stretching across the Island at the height of the event. The town of Port Mansfield, immediately north of the center, estimated a 4 foot storm surge and 5 foot storm tide. ||Interestingly, tides to the north of Dolly's center initially fell to below predicted values on increasing northerly winds, before rising during the late afternoon and evening as the cyclone moved inland, and strong southerly flow piled a storm tide of up to 6 feet above Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW) along the uninhabited Kenedy County shoreline.||There was a single confirmed tornado in Cameron County during the late evening of July 22nd, associated with one of the first outer rain bands. No damage was reported.

A strong thunderstorm developed in Starr County line a little after 2 AM on the 16th, than quickly strengthened and became severe while moving from eastern Starr County in Hidalgo County a little before 3 AM. The potent and persistent cell then swept rapidly east through central Hidalgo and into northern Cameron County between 3 AM and 415 AM, finally weakening as it approached the coast. ||The storm, which produced 70 mph and higher gusts in its long lived core, left more than $250 thousand in propety damage in its wake, along with at least 9,000 customers powerless from Alton and Edinburg in Hidalgo County to Harlingen and Las Yescas in Cameron County.

A vigorous upper level cyclone moving northeast from northern Mexico through the heart of Texas on the 17th and 18th induced an equally strong surface cyclone over the middle Rio Grande Valley of southwest Texas and extreme northern Mexico. This cyclone moved slowly east through the Lower Rio Grande Valley, producing persistent strong gusty southeast winds during the mornings of the 17th and 18th across the populated portions of the Lower Rio Grande Valley, causing power outages and minor damage in a few areas.||The trough eventually eased across all of Deep South Texas during the afternoon and evening of the 18th, but was followed by surges of very strong west to northwest winds on several occasions, beginning during the mid afternoon and continuing a little past sunset. The post-trough winds produced additional structural damage, particularly in Hidalgo County.

As a strong cold front and upper level cyclone moved toward Deep South Texas and the Lower Rio Grande Valley, gusty southerly winds developed in the enhanced pressure gradient between the surface trough and departing high pressure over the Gulf. Sustained winds increased briefly to 40 mph and higher during the early to mid afternoon over the eastern Lower Rio Grande Valley, resulting in power outages and minor wind damage at a few locations.

Clusters of severe thunderstorms moved through the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas causing damage to numerous trees, utility poles, railroad equipment, and buildings extending from Raymondville to Harlingen to McCook and Edinburg.The storms began to develop in the mid afternoon hours between 1 and 2 PM CST as the sea breeze boundary migrated westward from the Gulf of Mexico. Additional thunderstorms over northern Hidalgo and Starr counties began generating surface outflow boundaries near the original storm northeast of Raymondville. Of interesting note, several large dust devils had been observed by NWS meteorologists in Kenedy and Willacy counties in the early afternoon, suggesting that the surface air was quite unstable and sufficient rotation was available for tornadoes to form. As the outflow boundaries began to converge at Raymondville, the storm began producing severe wind gusts. The tornado moved through Raymondville, Texas at 450 PM CDT, lasting about two minutes, while the entire storm lasted from 445 PM until about 530 PM. The tornado touched down near 6th Street and San Francisco moving southwest along the railroad track and Business 77. The director of emergency management in Raymondville was a witness to the tornado and relayed the report to the police department. The tornado dissipated at the southern end of town and appears to have been the only tornado to form out of this storm. Spotter reports and damage survey crews noted isolated damage along the path with several trees and buildings sustaining minor damage. Rail gate crossings were twisted and broken apart along with several utility poles that were snapped apart several feet above the ground. Another tornado was reported just west of Combes, Texas. That tornado was short-lived and did not produce any damage. Elsewhere, reports of funnel clouds and a tornado were also received in Harlingen, Texas south of Raymondville. The tornado touched down in open farm land spinning up dust and some debris however no damage was reported with this twister.Additional storms generated severe winds around McCook, TX where minor damage was sustained to barns and smaller structures. Several reports of broken trees (6-8 inches in diameter) were also noted. At the intersection of M Road and Schunior, in Edinburg, TX, a series of high tension power poles were snapped of 10 to 12 feet above the ground. Oddly, no other structures in the vicinity sustained damage and it appears that the damage was caused by straight line severe thunderstorm wind gusts.Incidentally, several days prior to these severe thunderstorms, the Rio Grande Valley and northeast Mexico (state of Tamaulipas) had experienced record maximum temperatures ranging from 104 to 106 degrees Fahrenheit, due in large part to atmospheric subsidence caused by the effects of Hurricane Katrina.

Large clusters of severe thunderstorms affected Deep South Texas beginning on the evening of May 29 and extending through the early morning hours of May 30. The event began as storms produced large hail over Zapata and Kenedy counties during the early evening hours of the 29th. The cluster over Zapata county slowly proceeded southeast as a severe thunderstorm complex eventually producing large hail over Starr county later that evening.Another complex of storms proceeded into Hidalgo and Cameron counties. Strong thunderstorm wind gusts to 70 mph were measured in McAllen during the early morning hours of the 30th. Elsewhere, strong thunderstorm winds damaged the roofs of several homes, overturned a mobile home, and downed trees and power lines just to the northwest of Brownsville. Similarly, powerful thunderstorm winds also produced damage to a barn in Harlingen where beams used to support the structure were twisted.Finally the storm proceed to coastal sections of Cameron county where it produced significant damage to the White Sands Motel. According to media reports, the roof was ripped off, wind damage affected several units, and a parked car was moved several feet. A National Weather Service storm survey conducted later that morning, concluded that the damage pattern was consistent with those that occur during straight-line wind events in association with downburst formation.

One of the most destructive hail events in recorded history for the City of Brownsville occurred this day. A severe thunderstorm emerged into Cameron County from northern Mexico and dropped large amounts of wind-driven hail upon the city. The hail destroyed roofs of homes and businesses, broke countless windows of automobiles and homes, and damaged vegetation. Approximately 10,000 insurance claims have been filed in association with this storm. Most of the large hail reports occurred between 925 and 950 CDT.The Brownsville Police Department reported that 12 cruisers had windshields shattered by hail, and Hanna High School in central Brownsville reported 285 automobiles with wndows broken by hail. Much of the northern and central portions of the city suffered damage from this intense and historic storm. The storm was heavily documented and covered in the media with widespread accounts of its damage. The storm proceeded eastward and downed power lines in the community of Laguna Vista.