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Primera, Texas

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1929 and the latest in 2002. It stands in the Harlingen-San Benito census division. It lies in ZIP code area 78552. The Survey maps it on the La Feria quadrangle. 5,257 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 43 feet above sea level.

Primera within Cameron County

Population over time

2 figures

Primera grew from 4,070 to 5,257 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.

YearPeople Change
20104,070
20205,257+1,187 (+29%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 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

76 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 76 fires within 5 miles of Primera between 1993 and 2018, burning about 1,298 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 10 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined37
Debris and open burning22
Arson/incendiarism10
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Natural1
Equipment and vehicle use1
Fireworks1

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
13 September 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceWILCOX COMMAND
1 September 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServicePALOMA BLANCA COMMAND
3 August 1993Debris and open burning10 acresLower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife RefugeTIOCANO2
26 August 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceWILCOX COMMAND
10 August 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined52 acresLower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife RefugeRATLIFF
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

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Cameron County

Storms near this place

8 since 2001

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Primera in 8 storm reports between 2001 and 2024: 3 hail, 2 flash flood, 1 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind. 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 2018Flash FloodPrimera$100,000Nearly four inches of rain fell in one hour in east Harlingen, causing varying amounts of flooding through the city. 2 to an estimated 3 feet of water piled up along some roads, including enough to flood an indoor garage at Harlingen/Valley International Airport. Damage amounts were unknown as most of the flooding was high water on roads, though some vehicles were inundated.
May 2021Flash FloodPrimera$10,000Social media report received of a truck trapped in high water in the Harlingen area. Water depth was estimated to be around 3 feet.
September 2024LightningPrimera$5,400A resident of central Harlingen reported a direct lightning strike to the home. Approximate time is based on the report, which noted that the strike came just before torrential rains that were also reported at nearby Valley International Airport (2.4 miles to the east-northeast). Damage included roof and decking blown out and underlaying PVC pipe damage. No fire was reported.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindPrimera-The ASOS station at Valley International Airport (KHRL) gusted above 58 mph for at least 12 minutes from 7:19PM CDT until 7:31PM CDT. The strongest gust of 82 mph was recorded at 7:31PM CDT.
April 2017HailPrimera-Golf ball size hail reported in north Harlingen at the intersection of 7th Street and Vinson. Hail from this particular storm caused an unknown amount of damage at auto dealerships along Interstate Highway 2, on the west side of Harlingen. Information will be updated as data are received.
April 2017HailPrimera-NWS employee reports half dollar size hail on the north side of Harlingen.
April 2012HailPrimera-Public reported nickel to quarter size hail across portions of Harlingen, from near Harlingen High School to the Treasure Hills area.
September 2001Tornado (F0)Primera-Several weak landspout-type tornadoes formed along the leading of a stationary front. The tornadoes were weak, small, and short-lived, with none lasting more than five minutes.

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
Los Ranchitos Colonia0.9 miles13
Eggers Colonia1.6 miles13
Palm Valley1.7 miles13
Las Palmas Colonia1.7 miles13
Combes2.0 miles13
Combes Colonia2.1 miles13
Juarez Colonia2.1 miles13
Fred Adams Colonia2.2 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.

Wikipedia article on PrimeraAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q972589The 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 1344565. 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.