In early 1846, Lt. J.E. Blake made a reconnaissance trip along the entire length of Padre 

 Island to assess its suitability as a troop transport route compared with the mainland. 

 Blake's (1846) report contained brief statements on vegetation and geology. These 

 statements, vague as to island location, were undoubtedly influenced by the purpose of his 

 trip. Additionally, liis journey was only a year following a hurricane (1844) severe enough 

 to have destroyed a settlement near Brazos Santiago Pass. Blake stated that "little grass is 

 found on the island, and that a very inferior quality [for grazing] ," and concluded the 

 island was unsuitable for troop and livestock transport due to "the want of grass . . . and the 



difficulty of getting off [the island] at its southern termination " He also noted that 



toward the south end of the island, "the sandhills are less elevated and more broken . . .," 

 and described hurricane washovers where driftwood had been carried into the center of the 

 island. In contrast, he reported "good water on the western side of the sandhills" and 

 driftwood on the east side, apparently from more northern island locations. Blake's (1846) 

 statements describing the lack of grass seem inconsistent with the fact that in the 

 mid-1800's, the Singer cattle ranch was headquartered about 26 miles north of Brazos 

 Santiago (Harris, 1965). Later, southern Padre was also grazed by Dunn livestock, although 

 by 1940 the southern 50 miles no longer supported cattle since little vegetation remained 

 (Rechenthin and Passey, 1967). 

 5. Climate. 



Padre Island has a subtropical, semiarid climate, moderated by maritime tropical air from 

 the Gulf of Mexico. Only two seasons predominate, summer and winter, while spring and 

 fall are short transitional periods. The summer months, May through September, are hot 

 with little daily or weekly variation. Winter, from December through February, is generally 

 mild, but fluctuates widely in temperature. 



Freezing temperatures are infrequent; Corpus Christi (inland) experiences about 10 

 occurrences of 32° Fahrenheit or below each year, but the island extremes are more 

 moderate. Port Isabel on the mainland coast adjacent south Padre Island, averages only 

 1 year out of 3 with freezing weather (Orton, et al., 1967). Similarly, maximum summer 

 temperatures are usually cooler than the mainland, and rarely exceed 95° Fahrenheit. The 

 1973 monthly temperatures for Padre Island are given in Table 2; long-term temperature 

 and precipitation means for Corpus Christi and Port Isabel are given in Table 3. South Padre 

 has a warmer climate in every month, averaging from 7° to 8° warmer in winter, and from 

 3° to 5° warmer in summer, although the two stations are less than 100 miles apart. 



Precipitation in coastal south Texas is characteristically irregular, both monthly and 

 annually, with no sharply defined seasons. Within the last century, annual precipitation at 

 Corpus Christi has ranged from 5.38 inches (1917) to 48.16 inches (1888). During the 

 period 1931-60, Port Isabel had a maximum of 44.62 inches and a minimum of 12.33 

 inches. Excessive precipitation associated with hurricanes, usually in late summer and early 

 fall, biases the annual average upwards. Without this boost, the averages would be lower and 



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