National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

The 2011 Atlantic Hurricane Season was busy for the second year in a row. There were 19 named storms, identical to 2010, but only 7 hurricanes (12 in 2010) and 4 major hurricanes (5 in 2010). Hurricane development was stifled in the western Gulf and Caribbean region by persistent dry air and wind shear; steering winds between atmospheric high pressure across the central Atlantic and lower pressure across the northeast U.S. and Canada directed nearly every cyclone that formed in the main development region of the central and eastern tropical Atlantic away from land. One exception was Hurricane Irene, which scraped the mid Atlantic region before making landfall near New York. Irene was briefly a powerful Category 3 windstorm but weakened to barely a Category 1 windstorm at landfall. Irene’s large girth and impact over the heavily populated northeast U.S. left 41 dead from wind and flooding. Though wind and storm surge damage was notable, Irene will be remembered for devastating inland flooding that was equal or more severe than Hurricane Agnes (1972). Rainfall of 7 to 10 inches fell on saturated soil in and near the Appalachians; record floods along rivers and tributaries demolished property and drowned 20 persons in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. Irene’ $15.8 billion price tag placed the storm sixth costliest in the U.S.

Closer to home, tropical activity was virtually non existent. Wind shear and dry air across Texas locked the door to most system’s attempt to move toward the Rio Grande Valley. The one exception was Tropical Storm Don. Don was a tropical storm in name only; impacts included a bit of welcome rainfall for Cameron County and winds were light to calm as the center drifted across the King Ranch. Outer bands from Tropical Storm Arlene on June 30th dropped more than 2 inches of rain across the Lower Valley, and produced a brief EF1 tornado with 86 mph wind between Hidalgo and Pharr just north of the Rio Grande. Heat and Surf were impacts from Tropical Storm Lee during Labor Day weekend; additional dry and hot weather followed a week later in the persistent high pressure ridge that shoved Hurricane Nate north of (Ciudad y Puerto de)Veracruz.

The 2010 season is remembered for Hurricane Alex Alex produced tropical storm force winds, moderate rainfall, and feeder band tornadoes on June 30th, and leftover tropical moisture and turning winds helped produce a damaging tornado in Hebbronville. The storm’s remnants were most memorable, as more than 50 inches of rain fell across the Mexican tributaries of the Rio Grande basin through July 2nd. The result was a massive river flood and opening of the floodways in the Valley, which continued for the better part of July and August. Two months later, the Brownsville/Harlingen/Raymondville area took a direct hit from rapidly developing Tropical Storm Hermine, which left millions of dollars in damage from 70 mph winds on Labor Day night. Though Hermine was the final cyclone to affect the Valley in 2010, moisture initially associated with Hurricane Karl (which slammed into Veracruz in mid September) aided a period of heavy rainfall and flooding in mid September.

In 2008, Texas experienced what the State of Florida had become accustomed to earlier this decade: A very busy Hurricane Season. Four storms, ranging from Edouard’s light touch to Ike’s deadly hammer, affected millions of Texans living near the coast, from the Lower Rio Grande Valley to the Beaumont and Port Arthur area. When the waters cleared and the debris was removed, an estimated $20 billion or more in damage was realized, along with more than 100 fatalities directly or indirectly from the storms. Hurricane Dolly provided a much needed wake up call to the Rio Grande Valley, after a number of near misses and a general complacency since Beulah made the last direct hit on the main population centers back in 1967. Flooding rains exposed a patchwork of poor drainage locations from Cameron and Willacy through Hidalgo and Starr Counties. Category 1 sustained winds raked South Padre Island, knocking out power for up to two weeks and leaving a mess of debris that effectively halted the normally busy mid summer resort season.

What will the 2012 season bring? No matter what the forecast, it only takes one landfalling hurricane to make a season memorable. Preparedness is the key to surviving any hurricane season, and we hope the following information, along with that in the Texas Hurricane Guide, Rio Grande Valley Edition will help residents of the Rio Grande Valley and Deep South Texas to make smart decisions well before any storms arrive on our shores. What you do now may well save your life, your family, and protect your property from the perils of hurricanes, this year and any year.