National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

Story So Far: Through April 15th
Deepening moisture feeding around the based of the mid level high pressure cell (below), combined with periodic weak upper level disturbance, has brought generally welcome rainfall to all of Deep South Texas. All but a few locations have received at least one inch; as the map above shows, some areas, particularly from Starr county through northern Hidalgo into southern Kenedy and northern Willacy, have received 2 to 4 inches with pockets of more than 6 inches, approaching 7 inches as of the morning of April 16th, in northern Jim Hogg County. The table below shows rainfall from April 12th through the evening of April 14th.

More Rain On The Way
Update April 16th: Bands of torrential developed along and just west of the Highway 77 corridor during the afternoon. Additional rainfall of 1 to 2 inches in Falfurrias and Sarita will push weekly totals toward 5 to 6 inches. Current forecast data suggest a persistent feed of moisture will hold across south Texas through April 18th, perhaps even into the following week. While the combination of daily rains, abundant cloud cover, and high humidity is crushing any opportunity for spring drought and at least temporarily eliminating the wild fire season so common during springs of 2008 and 2009, the expectation of more rainfall, some which could be heavy at times falling onto saturated soil, could bring increasing opportunity for flooding.

The best opportunity for heavy rain remains focused along and west of a line from Kenedy County southwest to Hidalgo County, including the mid and upper Valley, Rio Grande Plains, Brush Country, and the King Ranch. Stay tuned for additional Urban/Small Stream/Arroyo Flood Advisories and possibly one or two Flash Flood Warnings through the weekend. Check our Weather–at–a–Glance page for continuous updates. Additional rains are expected through April 18th; a final summary will be available on this website on April 19th.

Until then, be sure to check rainfall estimates each morning after 10 AM CDT at http://water.weather.gov. Click here for a User’s Guide.

Turn Around, Don’t Drown!
Check out these great public service announcements, courtesy of Travis County, Texas Emergency Management. Note: Enlarge by clicking the "full screen" icon, bottom right, in Windows Media Player.