Isolated severe thunderstorms developed over the eastern Permian Basin and the Lower Trans Pecos regions of West Texas during the late afternoon and evening hours of the 24th. This activity developed along a dryline.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 episode as NWS MAF wrote it up.
Isolated severe thunderstorms developed over the eastern Permian Basin and the Lower Trans Pecos regions of West Texas during the late afternoon and evening hours of the 24th. This activity developed along a dryline. Large hail fell on the community of Colorado City for an extended period of time and damaged several vehicles.
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 Midland/Odessa, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 24, 2:25 PM CST, 3 hours 7 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 225 PM CST WED MAR 24 2004 .SHORT TERM... NEAR ZONAL FLOW IN THE UPPER LEVELS WITH A TROUGH TRYING TO COME ONSHORE IN THE WEST. MODELS DID SHOW A WEAK SHORTWAVE COMING THROUGH THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING... BUT NOT SEEING MUCH ON WATER VAPOR YET. AT THE SURFACE A MESO LOW OVER WESTERN KANSAS IS EXPECTED TO OPEN BACK UP INTO A LEESIDE TROUGH OVERNIGHT KEEPING SOUTHERLY WINDS ACROSS THE AREA. COMBINATION OF THIS SOUTH WIND AND DEWPOINTS IN THE 50S OVERNIGHT WILL RESULT IN WARM MORNING TEMPERATURES... RAISED LOWS SLIGHTLY. MAY ALSO SEE SOME PATCHY FOG IN THE MORNING BUT NOT LOOKING FOR VISIBILITIES TO BE TOO LOW. WITH BOUNDARIES FROM PREVIOUS STORMS AND A WEAK SHORTWAVE POSSIBLY IN THE AREA WILL CONTINUE LOW POPS. CHANCE FOR STORMS LOOK BEST IN THE EAST. EARLIER SHIFT MENTIONED POSSIBILITY OF SOME OF THESE STORMS BECOMING SEVERE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING... AND THAT STILL LOOKS POSSIBLE. .LONG TERM... INSTABILITY AND PASSING WEAK SHORTWAVES IN ZONAL FLOW SHOULD REMAIN WITH US THROUGH THIS WEEKEND. SOUTHERLY WINDS AT THE SURFACE WILL KEEP LOWER LEVEL MOISTURE ABUNDANT OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF THE CWA. WILL KEEP DAILY SLIGHT CHANCE OF POPS WITH THIS PATTERN PERSISTING THROUGH SATURDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL AGAIN BE VERY WELL ABOVE NORMAL FOR THURSDAY...THEN COOL TO CLOSER TO NORMAL FOR FRIDAY IN THE PERMIAN BASIN AS THE 850MB THERMAL RIDGE SHIFTS SLIGHTLY BACK TO THE WEST. TEMPERATURES FURTHER OUT IN THE EXTENDED GET PROBLEMATIC DUE TO UNCERTAINTY IN THE PATTERN. BY SATURDAY NIGHT...MODELS BEGIN DIVERGING QUITE A BIT IN THEIR SOLUTIONS. A SHORTWAVE TROUGH APPROACHES FROM THE WEST FRIDAY NIGHT...AND THAT IS WHEN THE MODELS BEGIN DIVERGING. THE GFSLR AND ECMWF BOTH DEVELOP A CUT OFF LOW...BUT SEND IT IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS. THE GFSLR ALLOWS THE LOW TO BE CAUGHT IN SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW WHILE THE ECMWF RETROGRADES THE LOW TO THE SOUTHWEST. THE GFS/AVN AND ETA RETAIN THE OPEN WAVE STRUCTURE AND BRING THE TROUGH INTO NEW MEXICO BY SATURDAY NIGHT. WITH THE HIGH LEVEL OF UNCERTAINTY AT THIS POINT AND LOW CONFIDENCE IN ANY ONE SOLUTION... CANNOT JUSTIFY CHANGING THE CURRENT FORECAST TOO MUCH. DID LOWER THE POPS SATURDAY NIGHT SLIGHTLY AND ADJUSTED ORIENTATION...BUT NO OTHER MAJOR CHANGES WILL BE MADE. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BIG SPRING TX 60 86 55 80 / 20 20 20 20 CARLSBAD NM 54 89 55 87 / 10 0 0 10 DRYDEN TX 59 81 60 80 / 20 20 20 20 FORT STOCKTON TX 60 89 57 84 / 20 20 20 20 GUADALUPE PASS TX 55 83 56 79 / 10 0 0 0 HOBBS NM 57 89 56 85 / 10 0 0 20 MARFA TX 48 80 47 79 / 20 20 20 10 MIDLAND INTL AIRPORT TX 58 86 57 82 / 20 20 20 20 ODESSA TX 59 86 58 83 / 20 20 20 20 WINK TX 59 93 58 86 / 20 10 10 20 && .MAF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...NONE. NM...NONE. && 72/20
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 230 PM CST WED MAR 24 2004 NMZ027>029-033-034-TXZ045>048-050>053-057>063-067>070-074-075- 079>082-258-250900- ANDREWS-BIG BEND AREA-BORDEN-CENTRAL LEA COUNTY-CRANE- DAVIS/APACHE MOUNTAINS AREA-DAWSON-ECTOR-EDDY COUNTY PLAINS-GAINES- GLASSCOCK-GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS-GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS OF EDDY COUNTY- HOWARD-LOVING-MARFA PLATEAU-MARTIN-MIDLAND-MITCHELL- NORTHERN LEA COUNTY-PECOS-PRESIDIO VALLEY-REAGAN- REEVES COUNTY AND UPPER TRANS PECOS-SCURRY-SOUTHERN LEA COUNTY- TERRELL-UPTON-VAN HORN AND HIGHWAY 54 CORRIDOR-WARD-WINKLER- 230 PM CST (130 PM MST) WED MAR 24 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THIS EVENING ACROSS THE PERMIAN BASIN SOUTHWARD TO THE BIG BEND AND WESTWARD ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO PLAINS. THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR A FEW STORMS THIS EVENING TO PRODUCE SMALL HAIL AND STRONG OUTFLOW WINDS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS...MAINLY ALONG AND EAST OF THE PECOS RIVER. A FEW STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE THURSDAY AND FRIDAY...WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR LARGE HAIL OR DAMAGING WINDS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.
The San Angelo radar (KSJT), 138 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:34 UTC.
3 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
The first of two separate severe thunderstorms to affect the Dunn community during the late afternoon of the 24th produced nickel size hail.
The second hail storm of the day to affect the Dunn community produced penny size hail.
Reports indicate that hail ranging in size from quarters to ping pong balls fell in the town of Colorado City for fourteen minutes. Several cars were severely damaged.
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, March 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: 5389867, 5389869, 5389868.