Zapata is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Zapata County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,383 at the 2020 census. The town was relocated to higher ground in 1953 prior to the completion of Falcon Dam, which left the original town center beneath the waters of Falcon Lake.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
Climate
Zapata has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSh) with sweltering summers and warm winters. Official record temperatures range from on January 4, 1911, to on June 16, 1998.
Rainfall averages annually, with higher amounts typically occurring from May to October. The wettest calendar year has been 2004 with and the driest 1974 with . The wettest month has been September 1967 with , whilst every month of the year has recorded a trace or less at least once and no rain whatsoever fell during the winter of 1950–51. Measurable snowfall has occurred only twice: on January 9, 1967 and on Christmas Day in 2004.
Zapata is sometimes the hottest location in the United States: on January 5, 1997 it set the all-time US record January high of .