Penitas, Texas

10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1949 and the latest in 2002. It stands in the Sullivan City census division. It lies in ZIP code area 78576. The Survey maps it on the La Joya quadrangle. 6,460 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 145 feet above sea level.

Penitas within Hidalgo County

Population over time

2 figures

Penitas grew from 4,403 to 6,460 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

Year	People	Change
2010	4,403
2020	6,460	+2,057 (+47%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 10 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.

1949 USGS Mc Allen quadrangle1:250000
1954 USGS McAllen quadrangle1:250000
1957 USGS Mc Allen quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
1962 USGS McAllen quadrangle1:250000
1963 USGS La Joya quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
1983 USGS Mc Allen quadrangle1:250000
1992 USGS Mc Allen quadrangle1:100000
2002 USGS La Joya quadrangle1:24000

Fires near this place

383 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 383 fires within 5 miles of Penitas between 1993 and 2020, burning about 5,151 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 78 were 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
Debris and open burning	148
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	136
Arson/incendiarism	78
Equipment and vehicle use	9
Railroad operations and maintenance	3
Natural	2
Other causes	2
Smoking	2
Misuse of fire by a minor	1
Recreation and ceremony	1
Power generation/transmission/distribution	1

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

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
6 September 2009	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge	DOVE
30 September 2010	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	5.5 acres	Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge	ABRAM LEVEE
30 September 2010	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	South Texas Refuge Complex	1427
28 September 2005	Debris and open burning	under an acre	South Texas Refuge Complex	DOFFING
11 September 2004	Debris and open burning	1.0 acres	South Texas Refuge Complex	1 1/2 MILE
9 August 2004	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge	GARZA
5 August 2004	Smoking	under an acre	Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge	SORGHUM
5 August 2004	Arson/incendiarism	under an acre	South Texas Refuge Complex	DOFFING 3

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Hidalgo County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 13 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 13 workings within 5 miles of Penitas: 12 producers, 1 unknown. 12 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
Beck Pit & Plant	Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Crow Pit & Plant	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Garcia Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
No. 1 Pit & Plant	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Sullivan City	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Unknown
Beck Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer	Caliche
Bell Pit	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Frost Pit	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Hawkins Pit	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
J-2 Pit	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer

Every working recorded in Hidalgo County

Storms near this place

13 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Penitas in 13 storm reports between 2003 and 2025: 4 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 2 flood, 1 tornado. The reports record 11 injuries. 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.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
April 2003	Tornado (F1)	Penitas	11 hurt, $1,500,000	Damage report and survey determined that an F1 tornado touched down in Penitas at the intersection of Seven Mile Road and Tom Gill Road. Thirty-seven mobile homes and other structures sustained damage or were destroyed. Several larger trailers were pushed from their foundations and overturned.
July 2010	Flood	Penitas	$6,400,000	Incredible rainfall estimated to be more than 50 inches in around 10 days' time between June 30th and July 9th across the front range and peaks of the Sierra Madre Oriental in Coahuila Province, Mexico, ultimately flowed through the entire Lower Rio Grande basin for much of the summer of 2010. \|\|The rare and extreme event rapidly produced major flooding along the river in southwest Hidalgo County, the result of planned dam releases from Falcon International Reservoir. River flooding likely continued spreading southeast into the area that begins the improved levee system of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Flood Control Project, south of Penitas and extending to Anzalduas Diversion Dam where the system of floodways (spillways) begins. While the levees protected most property behind them, a number of structures built inside the levees suffered significant and costly water damage, from Penitas to south of Granjeno.\|\|The structures included the popular river front Chimney Park RV Resort, which had more than 3 feet of water cover half of the land and property; Pepe's on the River Bar and Grill and the Riverside Club, favorite haunts for Winter Texans and local residents alike which provide river views but unfortunately were covered by feet of mud after the flood waters subsided. A sugar grower reported $450 thousand in losses of 300 acres of crop on land south of Mission. Dryland/irrigated dryland crops such as cotton, corn, and sorghum may have suffered some loss but values were unknown as of this writing; an estimate of $500 thousand will be used until additional data arrive. \|\|Property damage likely exceeded $5 million in these areas alone.
April 2023	Hail	Penitas	$250,000	Multiple reports of golf ball (1.75) to baseball (2.75) size hail falling across the Peitas area. Several pictures showed hail sizes up to baseballs, with a few pictures showing hail damaged car windshields. One picture in particular showed hail going through the rear windshield of a vehicle with the hailstone intact in the backseat. That same car also had it's right driver's side taillight broken by the large hail. Several other reports of broken windshields or dents to cars were reported in and around Peitas.
April 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Penitas	$40,000	A member of the public shared pictures with an NWS employee of significant damage to a mobile home trailer. The pictures show the mobile home destroyed with only one wall still standing. Timing estimated by radar.
May 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Penitas	$15,000	Multiple power lines, poles, and trees were reported down with some blocking roads across Hidalgo county as the thunderstorm moved eastward across the county.
April 2015	Flash Flood	Penitas	$10,000	An estimated 4 to 6 inches of rain fell within a few hours. Poor drainage areas, particularly around the colonias of Alton along and near State Road 107, were hardest hit; several homes had standing water, up to 2 feet in depth, inside them. A foot of water was reported at the Penitas Shopping Plaza as well.
March 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Penitas	-	Several trees were reported down and power outages in the town of Penitas.
May 2024	Hail	Penitas	-	Quarter size hail was reported near the intersection of Tom Gil and 3 Mile Line Road.
April 2023	Hail	Penitas	-	A member of the public shared pictures of hail up to 2 inches falling in the Peitas area north of HWY 83.
April 2023	Hail	Penitas	-	Member of the public shared pictures of golf ball (1.75) hail in and around the Peitas area.
April 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Penitas	-	Video from the public shows the metal roof of a carport peeled back near the intersection of Mile 3 Road and Tom Gill Road. Time estimated by radar.
August 2022	Funnel Cloud	Penitas	-	A strong storm developed in southern Hidalgo County and sagged to the southwest the evening of August 11th. At 7:08PM CDT, a member of the public began a Facebook Live that showed a funnel cloud dropping out of the storm. Radar analysis showed some mid-level rotation with the storm to corroborate the video and its timing. It dissipated by the end of the 2 minutes video, so around 7:10PM CDT.
August 2010	Flood	Penitas	-	River flooding continued into the first third of August across the initial section of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Flood Control Project, which includes improved levees between Penitas and the Anzalduas Diversion Dam southwest of Granjeno. While the levees protected most property behind them, a number of structures built inside the levees suffered significant and costly water damage, from Penitas to south of Granjeno.\|\|The structures included the popular river front Chimney Park RV Resort, which had more than 3 feet of water cover half of the land and property; Pepe's on the River Bar and Grill and the Riverside Club, favorite haunts for Winter Texans and local residents alike which provide river views but unfortunately were covered by feet of mud after the flood waters subsided in August. Some crop may have been destroyed by the flood, but damage was unknown as of this writing in this area. Property damage may have exceeded [$5] million in these areas alone. Note: Damage estimates for this portion of the flood area are listed in the July report.

Every storm recorded in Hidalgo 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.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Nuevo Penitas Colonia	0.8 miles	10
Colonia Martinez	0.8 miles	10
Colonia Camargo	0.9 miles	10
El Rio Colonia	1.0 miles	10
King Ranch Colonia Number 2	1.0 miles	10
King Ranch Colonia Number 1	1.1 miles	10
Carlos Acres Colonia	1.6 miles	10
Chihuahua	1.7 miles	10

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.

Wikipedia article on Penitas	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q973771	The 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 1388195. 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.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

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.