Unseasonably warm temperatures and dry conditions persisted across Deep South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley during the first half of the month. Spotty showers in the area provided very light rainfall amounts. Severe to exceptional drought conditions continued across much of the region. McAllen and Brownsville reported only 0.01 inches of rainfall during the first half of the month, 0.55 inches below normal, while Harlingen reported 0.20 inches of rainfall, 0.38 inches below normal. Above average daily temperatures across the region continued, with much of the lower and mid Valley between 8.0 degrees and 8.8 degrees above normal for the first 12 days of the month before dropping back to 5 to 6 degrees above by the 18th.

Drought in COASTAL WILLACY, TEXAS
From 01-FEB-13 00:00:00 to 18-FEB-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Very little rainfall was reported for the first half of February for coastal Willacy County. Only 0.01 inches of rain was reported, and this was by a COOP observer in Port Mansfield on the 6th. This general lack of rainfall combined with above normal temperatures allowed drought conditions to continue. The southern half remained in Severe (D2) Drought conditions, while the northern half remained in Extreme (D3) Drought conditions.

Drought in WILLACY, TEXAS
From 01-FEB-13 00:00:00 to 18-FEB-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

No rain fell during the first half of February across Willacy County. The combination of no rain and above average temperatures allowed for drought conditions to continue across the county. No improvements nor worsening of drought conditions was noted.
The far western third of the county remained in Exceptional (D4) Drought conditions,  the southeastern corner of the county continued in Severe (D2) Drought conditions, while the remainder of the county experienced Extreme (D3) Drought conditions.

Drought in CAMERON, TEXAS
From 01-FEB-13 00:00:00 to 18-FEB-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Unseasonably warm temperatures were common across Cameron county during the first half of the month, where daily average temperatures ranged between 7.2 and 7.8 degrees above normal through the 14th before dropping back a bit after cooler air arrived by mid-month. A few instances of rain was reported across Cameron county during the first two weeks. 0.01 to 0.03 inches of rain was reported across the Brownsville area from the 10th of February through the 13th. A total of 0.20 inches of rain was reported at Valley International Airport in Harlingen. This rainfall was just enough to keep drought conditions from escalating. The western half of Cameron county remained in Extreme (D3) Drought conditions, while the eastern half remained in Severe (D2) Drought conditions.

Drought in JIM HOGG, TEXAS
From 01-FEB-13 00:00:00 to 18-FEB-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Rain did fall across portions of Jim Hogg county during the first half of February, but the rainfall was splotchy as observed by the differences between the reported rainfall amounts of the COOP and CoCoRaHS observers. The COOP observer in Hebbronville reported 0.11 inches of rain during the first two weeks of February, while the CoCoRaHS observer reported 0.62 inches of rain. The rainfall allowed drought conditions to remain steady across Jim Hogg county the first half of February.
The northeastern corner of the county remained in Extreme (D3) Drought conditions, while the remainder of the county remained in Severe (D2) Drought conditions.

Drought in ZAPATA, TEXAS
From 01-FEB-13 00:00:00 to 18-FEB-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Showers and thunderstorms during the first two weeks of February across Zapata county prevented drought conditions from worsening, but they didn't provide enough moisture to allow for drought conditions to improve during the first half of the month.
Much of Zapata county remained in Severe D2 Drought conditions, with an area of Moderate (D1) Drought conditions in the northwest corner of the county.

Drought in BROOKS, TEXAS
From 01-FEB-13 00:00:00 to 04-FEB-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Extreme (D3) Drought persisted into the first week of February for all but the southwest corner of Brooks County, which briefly remained in Severe (D2) Drought.  Dry, warm weather persisting since the end of January would worsen conditions in the northeast and southwest portions of the County on the 5th.

Drought in KENEDY, TEXAS
From 01-FEB-13 00:00:00 to 28-FEB-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Periodic but well below average rainfall during the month allowed Extreme to Exceptional Drought to hold steady during February across Kenedy county. A total of 0.55 inches of rain was reported by a COOP observer in Sarita. The great majority of the county remained in Exceptional (D4) Drought conditions, while the southeast corner of the county remained in a little better shape, with Extreme (D3) Drought conditions.

Drought in HIDALGO, TEXAS
From 01-FEB-13 00:00:00 to 28-FEB-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Unseasonably warm temperatures and practically no rain fell during the month of February across all of Hidalgo County. Only 0.01 inches of rain was recorded during the month at McAllen Miller International Airport, 1.10 inches below normal. Elsewhere in the county, only trace amounts were reported by CoCoRaHS observers in Pharr and McAllen, and 0.02 inches was reported by a CoCoRaHS observer in Mission on February 7th. This overall lack of rainfall allowed for drought conditions to continue across Hidalgo County for the entire month. The southeastern half of the county remained in Extreme (D3) Drought conditions, along with a sliver along the northwestern corner of the county, while a broad swath of Exceptional (D4) Drought conditions covered much of the northwestern half of the county.

Drought in STARR, TEXAS
From 01-FEB-13 00:00:00 to 18-FEB-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Little rainfall was the rule, rather than the exception, for much of February across Starr County. Only 0.01 inches of rain was reported during the month and that fell on the 6th. Remaining soil moisture from January and back in fall of 2012 disappeared, allowing a sliver of Moderate (D1) Drought from Rio Grande City to Roma to deteriorate to Severe (D2) Conditions by the 5th.  From the 5th through 18th, the eastern third of the county remained in Extreme (D3) Drought conditions, while the western two thirds of the county held onto Severe (D2) Drought conditions.

Drought in COASTAL CAMERON, TEXAS
From 01-FEB-13 00:00:00 to 18-FEB-13 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Drought Monitor

No rainfall was reported for the first half of February for coastal Cameron County. This lack of rainfall combined with above normal temperatures allowed drought conditions to continue across coastal Cameron County. All of coastal Cameron County remained in Severe (D2) Drought conditions.