1 cold/wind chill, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Fort Worth, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 23, 4:50 AM CST, 3 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED FOR AVIATION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 450 AM CST THU DEC 23 2004 .AVIATION... SKC CONDS PREVAIL IN SUBSIDENCE REGION OF DEPARTING SYSTEM THAT BROUGHT ALL THE WINTER PRECIP YDY. SO VFR CONDS WITH CONTG NLY WND OF 8-14 KTS...AS SECONDARY SURGE ARRIVES LATER TDY. MAY SEE SOME BKN 250-300 AT TIMES THIS AFTN WITH PACIFIC MSTR COMING ACROSS NRN MEXICO...YET NO BIG DEAL. 05/ && .PREV DISCUSSION... 150 AM CST IT WILL BE VERY COLD THROUGH CHRISTMAS MORNING AS A SECONDARY ARCTIC SURGE MOVES INTO NORTH TEXAS LATER TODAY...MAINTAINING COLD TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE REGION. TEMPS WILL BEGIN TO MODERATE CHRISTMAS AFTERNOON...WITH A SLOW WARMUP CONTINUING INTO THE FIRST PART OF NEXT WEEK. NEXT CHANCE OF RAIN WILL BE TUESDAY NIGHT AS NEXT UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM APPROACHES FROM THE WEST. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DALLAS-FT. WORTH, TX 34 15 31 17 / 0 0 0 0 WACO, TX 37 16 33 17 / 0 0 0 0 PARIS, TX 30 11 29 13 / 0 0 0 0 DENTON, TX 32 13 30 15 / 0 0 0 0 MCKINNEY, TX 33 13 29 14 / 0 0 0 0 DALLAS, TX 35 16 32 17 / 0 0 0 0 TERRELL, TX 34 14 30 14 / 0 0 0 0 CORSICANA, TX 35 15 33 16 / 0 0 0 0 TEMPLE, TX 38 15 34 17 / 0 0 0 0 && .FWD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...NONE. && 59
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 303 AM CST THU DEC 23 2004 TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-232200- ANDERSON-BELL-BOSQUE-COLLIN-COMANCHE-COOKE-CORYELL-DALLAS-DELTA- DENTON-EASTLAND-ELLIS-ERATH-FALLS-FANNIN-FREESTONE-GRAYSON-HAMILTON- HENDERSON-HILL-HOOD-HOPKINS-HUNT-JACK-JOHNSON-KAUFMAN-LAMAR-LAMPASAS- LEON-LIMESTONE-MCLENNAN-MILAM-MILLS-MONTAGUE-NAVARRO-PALO PINTO- PARKER-RAINS-ROBERTSON-ROCKWALL-SOMERVELL-STEPHENS-TARRANT-VAN ZANDT- WISE-YOUNG- 303 AM CST THU DEC 23 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE... ARCTIC AIR WILL CONTINUE TO GRIP NORTH TEXAS THROUGH TONIGHT. TEMPERATURES WILL BE HARD PRESSED TO BREAK FREEZING DURING THE AFTERNOON...WITH EARLY MORNING TEMPERATURES EXPECTED TO BE IN THE MID AND UPPER TEENS BOTH THIS MORNING AND AGAIN TONIGHT. NORTH WINDS BETWEEN 10 AND 15 MPH WILL CONTINUE OVER MOST AREAS...RESULTING IN WIND CHILL VALUES AS LOW AS BETWEEN ZERO AND 10 DEGREES ABOVE ZERO DURING THE NIGHTTIME HOURS ACROSS SOME AREAS...WITH WIND CHILLS MAINLY IN THE 20S MOST AREAS DURING THE DAY. REMEMBER TO WEAR SEVERAL LAYERS OF CLOTHING WHEN VENTURING OUTSIDE THE NEXT 24 HOURS...AS THIS WILL BEST INSULATE YOUR BODY FROM THE BITTER COLD TEMPERATURES EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM WILL APPROACH NORTH TEXAS BY NEXT WEDNESDAY. AT THIS TIME...MOISTURE RETURN IS UNCERTAIN...AS IS THE POTENTIAL FOR THUNDERSTORMS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. 05/
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
A 46 year old man was found frozen to death behind a north Fort Worth business.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold/Wind Chill, Tarrant | 2004-12-23 | 46 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, December 2004
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5432619.