By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
More than two inches of rain soaked Del Rio Friday night as a line of powerful
thunderstorms barreled over Val Verde County from the west.
According to “preliminary local climatological data” on the National Weather Service
website, Del Rio logged a total of 2.11 inches of rain before midnight Friday.
The National Weather Service issued several watches and warnings as the storm front
became more organized and began its march east.
The first NWS severe thunderstorm warning involving Del Rio and Laughlin Air Force
Base was issued shortly after 9 p.m. and called for “torrential downpours,” winds gusting
to 70 miles per hour and penny-sized hail.
Though it appeared on the radar that the worst part of the front moved north of the city,
heavy rains fell on Del Rio, flooding low water crossings throughout the city and
partially filling some retention ponds on the north side.
The heaviest rainfall Del Rio ever received on Oct. 24 was from a storm that brought a
record total of 5.42 inches of rain in 1941, according to the NWS.
The NWS data also show Del Rio has received a total of 2.52 inches of rain since Sept. 1,
with Friday night’s deluge making up the lion’s share of that total. The city has logged a
total of 6.90 inches of rain since Jan. 1.
The NWS notes in a normal year, Del Rio would have received a total of 17.88 inches of
rain by this time of the year. This year, the city is down nearly 11 inches of rain from
normal – 10.98 inches, the NWS says. By this date last year, Del Rio had received a total
of 10.15 inches of rain.
Friday’s rains were the heaviest Del Rio has seen in a single day in more than a year. The
last time the city had more than one inch of rain in a single day was on Sept. 3, 2024,
when storms dumped a total of 4.56 inches on rain.
Despite the rain, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, Val Verde County remains
under drought conditions, varying from “abnormally dry” and “moderate drought”
conditions in the northernmost portions of the county, to “extreme drought” conditions in
the Del Rio area in southeastern Val Verde County.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
