Heat Burst and Front Bring Record Temperatures, Very Strong Winds, and Very Low Humidity

The Heat...

...and the Dry. Individual values denote minimum afternoon relative humidity.

Blast Furnace Rips Through Valley
Triple Digit Heat, Very Strong Winds Arrive April 4, 2011

Quick Event Wrap
As advertised in our initial Spring Outlook issued in early March, a "front with intense drying behind it" surged through Deep South Texas on April 4th, bringing the first widespread triple digit heat to the Valley, which combined with very strong north winds gusting as high as 50 mph and humidity that fell near 10 percent from the mid Valley north and west to the brush country – areas already experiencing severe drought. As of this writing, significant wildfires had developed, perhaps a result of high awareness levels and burn bans. However, there was at least one instance of minor damage from the winds, in Zapata County, where some roof tiles blew off a building during the afternoon, and a grass fire spread to dozens of acres near Linn (Highway 281) between 7 PM and Midnight. Peak wind gusts are provided in the table near the bottom of this page.

The heat burst brought record highs to the three major airports/observing locations in the Valley (below). Additional records may have fallen at other sites; high temperatures for cooperative locations throughout Deep South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley will be available on April 5th. The following statement summarizes the heat and records, as of April 4th at 5 PM:

 
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
925 AM CDT TUE APR 5 2011

...TRIPLE DIGIT HEAT COVERED MOST OF DEEP SOUTH TEXAS APRIL 4TH...

NEARLY ALL OF THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY...AND PARTS OF THE RANCH COUNTRY 
OF DEEP SOUTH TEXAS REACHED THE TRIPLE DIGITS ON MONDAY. TEMPERATURES 
WARMED CONSIDERABLY AHEAD OF A COOLING FRONT AS NORTHWEST WINDS 
AHEAD OF THE FRONT ALLOWED TEMPERATURES TO SURGE TOWARD AND ABOVE 
RECORD LEVELS. 

LISTED BELOW ARE OBSERVATIONS FROM ACROSS DEEP SOUTH TEXAS TAKEN
FROM VARIOUS SOURCES...UPDATED TO INCLUDE COOPERATIVE WEATHER
OBSERVERS. RECORDS MAY NOT MATCH THE LONG TERM CLIMATE 
INFORMATION FOR HARLINGEN AND MCALLEN LISTED ELSEWHERE...AS THESE
MAY INCLUDE A COMBINATION OF AIRPORT AND LONGER TERM COOPERATIVE
OBSERVER RECORDS THAT MAY HAVE OCCURRED ON THE SAME CALENDAR DAY.



CITY                    COUNTY             TYPE       HIGH TEMPERATURE
BROWNSVILLE/SPI ARPT    CAMERON            ASOS       101*
HARLINGEN/VALLEY ARPT   CAMERON            ASOS       101**
MCALLEN/MILLER ARPT     CAMERON            ASOS       103***
BAYVIEW/CAM CO ARPT     CAMERON            ASOS        97

LA JOYA                 HIDALGO            COOP       104
EDINBURG/INTL ARPT      HIDALGO            AWOS       103
FALCON LAKE             STARR              RAWS       103
REYNOSA/ARPT            TAMAULIPAS MEXICO             103
LA JOYA                 HIDALGO            CWOP       102
MCALLEN WATER PLANT     HIDALGO            COOP       102
RIO GRANDE CITY         STARR              COOP       102
SANTA ROSA              CAMERON            COOP       101
MISSION                 HIDALGO            CWOP       101
SAN MANUEL              HIDALGO            COOP       100
EDINBURG                HIDALGO            COOP       100
FALFURRIAS              BROOKS             COOP       100
SANTA ANA NWR           HIDALGO            RAWS       100
LINN/SAN MANUEL         HIDALGO            RAWS       100
WESLACO                 HIDALGO            CWOP       100
WESLACO/MID VLY ARPT    HIDALGO            AWOS        99
FALCON DAM              STARR              COOP        99
ZAPATA/ARPT             ZAPATA             AWOS        99
NE BROWNSVILLE          CAMERON            CWOP        99
MATAMOROS ARPT          TAMAULIPAS MEXICO              99
FALFURRIAS/BROOKS ARPT  BROOKS             AWOS        99
RAYMONDVILLE            WILLACY            COOP        98
WESLACO                 HIDALGO            COOP        98
HARLINGEN               CAMERON            COOP        98
SARITA 7 E              KENEDY             COOP        98
LAGUNA ATASCOSA NWR     CAMERON            RAWS        98
ESCOBAS                 ZAPATA             CWOP        98
HEBBRONVILLE            JIM HOGG           COOP        97
ESCOBAS                 ZAPATA             COOP        97
PORT MANSFIELD          WILLACY            COOP        96
MERCEDES 6 SSE          HIDALGO            COOP        95
HEBBRONVILLE ARPT       JIM HOGG           AWOS        95

*   NEW RECORD. PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 94 SET IN 1918.
**  NEW RECORD. PREVIOUS CALENDAR DAY RECORD WAS 100 SET IN 1955 AT  
    AIRPORT LOCATION. 
*** NEW RECORD. PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 97 SET IN 2008 AT MILLER AIRPORT.

LEGEND: 
ASOS...AUTOMATED SURFACE OBSERVING SYSTEM (NWS)
AWOS...AUTOMATED WEATHER OBSERVING SYSTEM (FAA)
COOP...COOPERATIVE WEATHER OBSERVER (NWS)
CWOP...CITIZENS WEATHER OBSERVING PROGRAM
RAWS...REMOTE AUTOMATED WEATHER STATION

Peak Wind Gusts on April 4, 2011
City	County	Peak Gust
Bayview/Cameron Co. Arpt	Cameron	52 mph
Matamoros Arpt	Tamaulipas (Mexico)	51 mph
Harlingen/Valley Int'l Airport	Cameron	48 mph
Brownsville/SPI Int'l Airport	Cameron	46 mph
Laredo Int'l Airport	Webb	46 mph
McAllen/Miller Airport	Hidalgo	44 mph
South Padre Island Heliport	Cameron	44 mph
Edinburg Int'l Airport	Hidalgo	43 mph
Hebbronville/Jim Hogg Arpt	Jim Hogg	41 mph
Zapata/Zapata Co. Aprt	Zapata	41 mph
Port Mansfield/Harbormaster	Willacy	41 mph
Weslaco/Mid Valley Arpt	Hidalgo	40 mph
Falfurrias/Brooks Co. Arpt	Brooks	38 mph
Laguna Atascosa NWR (20 ft)	Cameron	32 mph
Falcon Lake RAWS (20 ft)	Starr	32 mph
Linn/San Manuel NWR (20 ft)	Hidalgo	32 mph
Santa Ana NWR (20 ft)	Hidalgo	28 mph