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Rio Grande City, Texas

10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1949 and the latest in 1992. It stands in the Rio Grande City census division. It lies in ZIP code area 78582. The Survey maps it on the Rio Grande City North quadrangle. 15,317 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 174 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Rio Grande City within Starr County

On record in Rio Grande City

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 6 records

Population over time

2 figures

Rio Grande City grew from 13,834 to 15,317 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
201013,834
202015,317+1,483 (+11%)

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.

Fires near this place

398 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 398 fires within 5 miles of Rio Grande City between 1996 and 2020, burning about 2,336 acres in total. None started naturally. 25 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/undetermined233
Debris and open burning127
Arson/incendiarism25
Equipment and vehicle use6
Misuse of fire by a minor6
Other causes1

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
7 September 2005Debris and open burning1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named
6 September 2011Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceGRASS FIRE
3 September 2018Debris and open burning1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceW. HINOJOSA ST.
3 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceLA REFORMA ST.
3 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceSEPULVEDA CIR.
3 September 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceLA MESA ST./MI RANCHITA DR.
28 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouth Texas Refuge Complex83
23 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceFOREST ST.

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Starr County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Rio Grande City: 1 producer. All of them still produce. What was taken out: 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.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Fidel Guerra Gravel PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Starr County

Storms near this place

40 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rio Grande City in 40 storm reports between 1997 and 2024: 17 flash flood, 11 thunderstorm wind, 11 hail, 1 heavy rain. 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
May 2007Thunderstorm WindRio Grande City$75,000Display signs and posts blown over on top of automobiles at Ramirez Ford.
May 2018Flash FloodRio Grande City$50,000Slow moving thunderstorm clusters dumped torrential rains over and near Rio Grande City during the early to mid evening of May 4th, with storm totals likely between 4 and 5 inches across the area. A combination of reports from law enforcement, emergency management, and social media indicated dangerous flooding in parts of the city, with several water rescues and minor flooding reaching into several homes on the east side of town. Social media photos and discussion reported a yard with 1 to 2 feet of water flowing through it at around 8 PM CST; water rescues from stranded vehicles were reported along US 83 on the east side of town at around 8:55 PM CST, and another vehicle was reported stranded in floodwaters at the intersection of Flores and Monroe Street, also on the east side of town. The NWS cooperative observer reported 4.28 inches with the event, most falling within two to three hours.
October 1998Flash FloodRio Grande City$35,000Widespread street flooding. Fifty houses damaged by high water, mainly in the Las Lomas and Chaparral Subdivisions.
May 2007Thunderstorm WindRio Grande City$30,000Sheriff's Office reported roof damage to structures.
June 1997Flash FloodRio Grande City$28,000263 dwellings damaged by water.
May 2020Flash FloodRio Grande City$25,000Starr County Sheriffs Office reported floodwater entering at least 10 homes on the west side of Rio Grande City when an arroyo overspilled its banks in the neighborhood. Damage values are estimated.
May 2015Flash FloodRio Grande City$25,000Starr County Sheriffs Office reported at least a dozen water rescues in and near Rio Grande City, including the Las Lomas neighborhood and Garciasville, where some homes had up to 3 feet of water inside them after a likely combination of freshwater (drainage) and arroyo flooding from an estimated/measure five to seven inches of rain in two to three hours. Portions of U.S. 83 were closed in southeast Starr County, mainly from Rio Grande City to near the Hidalgo County line, due to standing water of 2 to 4 feet.
May 2005Flash FloodRio Grande City$25,000no account filed
May 2020Flash FloodRio Grande City$10,000Starr County Sheriffs Office reports floodwater entering at least one home in east central Rio Grande City as a nearby Arroyo overspilled its banks and combined with heavy rainfall to flood city roads. An estimated 1 to 2 feet of fast flowing water impacting U.S. highway 83 on the east side of Rio Grande City.
June 1997Thunderstorm WindRio Grande City$5,000Numerous power lines and poles down. Tree damage.
September 1998Flash FloodRio Grande City$4,000Three to four inches of rain caused extensive flooding of streets and some houses located in low lying areas.
April 2018Thunderstorm WindRio Grande City$2,000A newspaper report from Starr County indicated a large restaurant sign blew onto a vehicle and caused an unknown amount of damage to the vehicle during the passage of a thunderstorm in Rio Grande City a little after 8 PM on April 25th.
May 2024HailRio Grande City-Quarter size hail was reported just north of Rio Grande City, via web report.
May 2024HailRio Grande City-Half dollar size hail was reported along FM 755 north of town. Report received via the internet.
April 2023Thunderstorm WindRio Grande City-Social media posts showed a destroyed metal baseball backstop along with several large tree limbs down on the northern side of Rio Grande City. Timing estimated by radar and social media posts.
April 2022Thunderstorm WindRio Grande City-Thunderstorm winds estimated at 50 knots downed several large tree limbs between Cenizo Street and the intersection of E Eisenhower St and FM755 in Rio Grande City. Additionally, one set of traffic lights were left dangling at the intersection of E Eisenhower St and FM755. The public also shared pictures of numerous trampolines that were blown down the street.
May 2020HailRio Grande City-Social media public reported ping pong sized hail in Starr County.
June 2020HailRio Grande City-Rio Grande City Police Department reported that dime-size hail fell for about 2 to 3 minutes around 415 PM CDT.
March 2018HailRio Grande City-Facebook reports relayed to the NWS office in Brownsville reported two large hail reports east of Rio Grande City: Golfball sized hail 4.6 miles east, near La Puerta, and half-dollar sized hail (1.25) 4 miles east southeast of Rio Grande City near Los Velas road.
May 2017Flash FloodRio Grande City-Rio Grande City Police Department reported flooding on Embassy Street, La Loma, and at the intersection of Main Street and Washington Street. Radar imagery estimated 2.5 to 3.0 inches of rainfall.
April 2015Flash FloodRio Grande City-Rio Grande City Police reported that 20 to 30 streets across the Rio Grande City were flooded with at least a foot of flowing water, that the police substation parking lot had 8 to 12 inches of water and that Highway 83 had 2 to 3 inches of water on the roadway. No homes were reported flooded in the city.
September 2014Heavy RainRio Grande City-A COOP observer in Rio Grande City reported 6.30 inches of rain.
May 2014HailRio Grande City-Trained spotter reported quarter size hail and provided a video that suggested hail up to half dollar size fell.
May 2014Thunderstorm WindRio Grande City-Public reported multiple large tree limbs down FM 755.
May 2014Thunderstorm WindRio Grande City-Trained spotter reported wind gusts of 50 to 60 mph in Rio Grande City.
July 2007Flash FloodRio Grande City-Rio Grande City Police Department reports heavy rain and street flooding.
July 2007Flash FloodRio Grande City-Starr County sheriff reports Los Olmos Creek through Rio Grande City over bank full.
July 2007Flash FloodRio Grande City-Rio Grande City law enforcement reports water inside homes from flooding in the Las Lomas and Los Trevinos subdivisions.
July 2007Flash FloodRio Grande City-Texas Department of Transportation reports two feet of water on expressway 83 in Rio Grande City. Texas Department of Transportation reports 5 feet of water on Embassy road, Hernandez road and Roca Guerra road in Rio Grande City and one foot of water in homes on these roads.
April 2003Thunderstorm WindRio Grande City-Severe wind gusts associated with a thunderstorm downed power lines near Rio Grande City.
May 2002HailRio Grande City-Law Enforcement Officials reported 1.75 inch hail
September 2002Flash FloodRio Grande City-Highway 755 between Highways 490 and 2294 was closed due to flash flooding produced by strong thunderstorms.
June 2001Thunderstorm WindRio Grande City-Large tree limbs (greater than 2 inches in diameter) were reported down, and 6 roofs were removed from barns.
June 2001Thunderstorm WindRio Grande City-A 59 mph wind gust was measured at the Aerostat site located north of Rio Grande City.
August 2001Flash FloodRio Grande City-McAllen DPS reported that FM 490 was impassable due to high water over the road which continued through the night. In fact, secondary gravel roads remained flooded into the next day.
October 2006Flash FloodRio Grande City-no account filed
May 2004HailRio Grande City-no account filed
February 1998HailRio Grande City-no account filed
February 1998HailRio Grande City-no account filed
February 1998HailRio Grande City-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Starr 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
Garza-Gutierrez Colonia0.6 miles10
Cortez Colonia0.6 miles10
J L Garcia Colonia0.7 miles10
Canales Colonia0.8 miles10
Mitchell Colonia0.9 miles10
Arredondo Colonia0.9 miles10
Joseph Griggs Colonia1.0 miles10
Doyno West Side Number 2 Colonia1.1 miles10

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 Rio Grande CityAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q981868The 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 1388199. 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.