Measured and estimated rainfall, August 2008, for Deep South Texas and the Lower Rio Grande Valley (Click to enlarge)
August 2008: A Mixed Bag
Flooding Rains and Not as Hot West; Less Rain Near Coast

After a thorough soaking in July courtesy of a week of locally heavy rains between the 1st and 8th and Hurricane Dolly, August featured a variety of summer weather across the Lower Rio Grande Valley, ranging from frequent torrential rains during the middle of the month in Starr and Zapata Counties, to pockets of flooding rains in other areas, trending drier near the immediate coast. The map above includes estimated and observed rainfall across the area. This combination is a best fit of radar data, radar biases, and ground measurements.

The following is a brief climate summary for the month of August, focusing largely on the three larger cities of Brownsville, Harlingen, and McAllen.

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
817 AM CDT TUE SEP 2 2008

...AUGUST CLIMATE ROUNDUP FOR DEEP SOUTH TEXAS...

RECORD DATES FOR EACH LOCATION ARE AS FOLLOWS:

BROWNSVILLE RECORDS BEGAN 1878...
HARLINGEN RECORDS BEGAN 1911...
MCALLEN RECORDS BEGAN 1941...

BROWNSVILLE...

THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE IN BROWNSVILLE FOR AUGUST WAS 85.19
DEGREES...1.2 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS IS THE 34TH WARMEST AUGUST
ON RECORD. THE AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE WAS 77.7 DEGREES. THIS WAS
THE HIGHEST AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE RECORDED FOR BROWNSVILLE IN
AUGUST. ONE RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE WAS RECORDED ON THE
15TH.

BROWNSVILLE AIRPORT RECEIVED 2.61 INCHES OF RAINFALL IN
AUGUST...0.38 INCHES BELOW NORMAL.

HARLINGEN...

THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE IN HARLINGEN FOR AUGUST WAS 84.45
DEGREES...WHICH IS RIGHT AT THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH
OF AUGUST. THIS IS THE 37TH WARMEST AUGUST ON RECORD..AND THE
COOLEST AUGUST SINCE 1995. THE AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE FOR AUGUST
WAS 76.1 DEGREES. THIS WAS THE 5TH WARMEST AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE
RECORDED FOR HARLINGEN. TWO RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WERE
SET OR TIED ON THE 12TH AND THE 22ND.

HARLINGEN AIRPORT RECEIVED 3.60 INCHES OF RAIN...0.68 INCHES ABOVE
NORMAL. THIS IS THE 26TH WETTEST AUGUST FOR HARLINGEN.

MCALLEN...

THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE IN MCALLEN FOR AUGUST WAS 85.34
DEGREES...0.8 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THIS WAS THE 30TH COOLEST
AUGUST ON RECORD...AND THE COOLEST AUGUST SINCE 1995. THE AVERAGE
HIGH TEMPERATURE WAS 93.8 DEGREES...WHICH IS THE 5TH COOLEST ON
RECORD. THE AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE WAS 76.8 DEGREES...WHICH IS
THE 8TH WARMEST ON RECORD. ONE RECORD MINIMUM WAS SET ON THE 22ND.

MCALLEN AIRPORT RECEIVED 6.84 INCHES OF RAIN...4.11 INCHES ABOVE
NORMAL. THIS WAS THE 3RD WETTEST AUGUST ON RECORD...BEHIND ONLY
1980 WITH HURRICANE ALLEN AND 1944 DUE TO A TROPICAL STORM. 5.38
INCHES OF THIS TOTAL FELL ON THE 18TH...WHICH SET A DAILY RECORD.
THIS WAS ALSO THE 7TH WETTEST DAY IN MCALLEN HISTORY. MORE RAIN
WAS RECEIVED ON THIS DAY ALONE THAN ALL PREVIOUS ENTIRE MONTHS OF
AUGUST EXCEPT FOR 5.
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