BlockBefore

Palmetal, Texas

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1929 and the latest in 1992. It stands in the Harlingen-San Benito census division. It lies in ZIP code area 78550. It stands on Little Creek. The Survey maps it on the Harlingen quadrangle.

Palmetal within Cameron County

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 13 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

51 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 51 fires within 5 miles of Palmetal between 1996 and 2018, burning about 207 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined33
Debris and open burning11
Power generation/transmission/distribution4
Smoking1
Arson/incendiarism1
Equipment and vehicle use1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
18 September 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServicePRIMERA COMMAND
1 September 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServicePALOMA BLANCA COMMAND
5 July 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceWILSON COMMAND
4 July 2005Debris and open burning35 acresSouth Texas Refuge ComplexJULY 4TH
11 July 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresSouth Texas Refuge ComplexREYNOLDS
12 June 2007Debris and open burningunder an acreSouth Texas Refuge ComplexMILO
11 June 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceHARRISON COMMAND
10 June 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceHARRISON COMMAND

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Cameron County

Storms near this place

12 since 2009

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Palmetal in 12 storm reports between 2009 and 2024: 4 flood, 3 thunderstorm wind, 3 heavy rain, 1 funnel cloud. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
September 2024Flash FloodPalmetal$15,000Harlingen PD received numerous reports of flooded roads during the mid to late afternoon. These included: Fair Park Blvd, the intersection of 7th and M St, Spur 5 and Frontage, Eye St, intersection of J St and Fair Park Blvd, Bowie Ave and 25th St, Frontage Rd. at Primera Rd exit to Wilson Rd, Le Moyne Garden, and Emerald Lake Dr. Texas Department of Transportation was notified and road closures began during the event, with water reported halfway up cars in some spots.
April 2023Thunderstorm WindPalmetal-The ASOS station at Valley International Airport in Harlingen recorded a wind gust of 53 knots at 1:14AM CDT. Additional wind gusts over 50 knots were recorded between 1:14AM CDT and 1:22AM CDT.
October 2021FloodPalmetal-Report received from public of several inches of water topping the curbs at the intersection of Business 77 and Harrison Road in Harlingen.
October 2021FloodPalmetal-Picture received from public of Madison Ave in Harlingen under several inches of water. Exact depth unknown at this time.
October 2021FloodPalmetal-Video received from the public of water covering US-77/Sunshine Strip near the VA Health Center in Harlingen. Water was reaching up to the bumpers of some sedans.
October 2021Funnel CloudPalmetal-Video received from public of a tropical funnel cloud near Exit 23A on I-69E in Harlingen.
June 2019FloodPalmetal-Spotters and local law enforcement reported sporadic street flooding in southeast and east Harlingen after torrential thunderstorm rains dumped 2 to 3 inches in about an hour. Minor street flooding was most common along Ed Carey Blvd. (FM Loop 499) and U.S. Highway 77 (business) between Hale Avenue and Sam Houston Drive. No significant property damage was reported.
September 2014Heavy RainPalmetal-A slow moving band of torrential rain/thunderstorms created areas of nuisance urban flooding from the west side of Brownsville through San Benito and parts of Harlingen during the mid afternoon of September 13th, 2014. Generally less than 2 feet of water flooded typically poor drainage roads in the area during and just after the peak of the heavy rains. In total, the band produced 2 to 3 inches of rain in a roughly 3 hour period.
November 2013Heavy RainPalmetal-More than 5 inches of rain fell across portions of Harlingen during a 5 hour period causing localized flooding of low lying and poor drainage spots. Local law enforcement reported water over a lower bridge on Breedlove Street, water over the road at the intersection of Polk Avenue and Highway 77, on Hayne, Tomas Lane and Marck Circle. There were numerous reports on social media reporting water over the road at the intersection of Ed Carey and Business 77/Sunshine Strip.
February 2012Heavy RainPalmetal-Thunderstorms dumped measured and estimated 1 1/2 inches of rainfall in central Cameron County during the late afternoon of February 4th, resulting in pockets of poor drainage flooding from near Harlingen through San Benito to Brownsville. Cameron County Emergency Management reported 4 inches of standing water on US 281 (Military Highway) in West Brownsville, temporarily closing two lanes of the highway.
May 2009Thunderstorm WindPalmetal-A trained spotter reported they had estimated a wind gust up to approximately 60 miles per hour during a thunderstorm approximately 5 miles southwest of the Harlingen Airport.
September 2009Thunderstorm WindPalmetal-ASOS reported wind gusts to 60 miles per hour during a thunderstorm that moved through Cameron County.

Every storm recorded in Cameron County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Harlingen1.8 miles13
Arroyo Colorado Estates Colonia3.0 miles13
Port Harlingen3.3 miles13
Bonnaville Terrace Colonia3.4 miles13
Avondale3.4 miles13
Palacios Estates Colonia3.4 miles13
Fred Adams Colonia3.5 miles13
Juarez Colonia3.7 miles13

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikidata item Q122553928The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1378823. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.