A weakening squall line moved across north Texas in the early morning hours. This line of storms produced severe winds in Palo Pinto, north Tarrant, and Denton County.
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 FWD wrote it up.
A weakening squall line moved across north Texas in the early morning hours. This line of storms produced severe winds in Palo Pinto, north Tarrant, and Denton County.
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 Feb 8, 11:51 PM CST, 2 hours 29 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 1151 PM CST SUN FEB 8 2009 .AVIATION... /6Z UPDATE/ LARGE AREA OF RAIN AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUES TO MOVE EAST ACROSS WEST TEXAS AND SHOULD BE APPROACHING THE AREA AIRPORTS BY AROUND 10-11Z. ALL OF THE SEVERE WEATHER OUT WEST EARLIER HAS WEAKENED...SO HAVE TONED DOWN THE TSTM POTENTIAL FOR ALL AREAS. CIGS HAVE BEEN BOUNCING AROUND A BIT BUT THINK MVFR BKN025 CIGS WILL PREVAIL OVERNIGHT AHEAD OF AREA OF RAIN. SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO GUST TO AROUND 35 KNOTS THROUGH THE NIGHT. WILL ALSO KEEP A TEMPO 27025G35KT IN FOR ALL SITES DURING THE ONSET OF THE PRECIP. CIGS IMPROVE LATE MORNING AS PRECIP MOVES EAST WITH SOUTHWEST WINDS CONTINUING TO GUST INTO THE EARLY AFTERNOON. OTHER THAN THE EARLY MORNING PRECIP AND POTENTIAL FOR GUSTY CROSSWINDS ON LEADING EDGE OF PRECIP...NO OTHER SIGNIFICANT AVIATION CONCERNS. 91/DUNN && .UPDATE... 00Z FWD SOUNDING SHOWS THAT CAP REMAINS SUBSTANTIAL BUT HAS LIFTED SEVERAL THOUSAND FEET DURING THE LAST 12 HRS. LIGHT SHOWERS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP IN THE MOIST AIR BENEATH THE CAP...WITH VERY LIGHT QPF VALUES SO FAR. THE HEAVIER RAIN IN THE FORM OF A BROKEN LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IS NOW NEAR A PLAINVIEW TO OZONA LINE. THE CONVECTION WILL CONTINUE TO WEAKEN AS IT ENCOUNTERS MORE CIN. NAM LOOKS TO BE A COUPLE HOURS SLOW WITH THE TIMING OF ITS PRECIP. HAVE EXPANDED POPS FARTHER EAST...WITH LIKELY POPS IN THE WEST AND SLIGHT CHANCE IN THE METRO AREA THROUGH MIDNIGHT. BY 6 AM...THE REMNANTS OF THE SQUALL LINE SHOULD ALREADY BE IN THE METROPLEX. LOWERED TEMPS SLIGHTLY IN THE WEST AS RAIN AND DRIER AIR SHOULD ARRIVE BEFORE SUNRISE. SH/13 && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 307 PM CST SUN FEB 8 2009/ LARGE UPPER LEVEL LOW IS NOW MOVING THROUGH THE FOUR CORNERS REGION AND WILL CONTINUE TO EJECT EAST AND NORTHEAST INTO THE PLAINS TONIGHT. WINDS OVER THE REGION ARE ALREADY RESPONDING TO RAPIDLY FALLING SURFACE PRESSURES IN THE LEE OF THE ROCKIES. GIVEN THE DYNAMIC NATURE OF THIS SYSTEM AND A STRONG LOW LEVEL JET EXCEEDING 60 KT...BELIEVE WIND SPEEDS WILL BE HIGHER THAN MODEL FORECASTS WITH GUSTS OF 40 MPH POSSIBLE. THEREFORE HAVE ISSUED A WIND ADVISORY FOR THE WESTERN AND CENTRAL ZONES THROUGH 6 AM. VERY STRONG CAP WILL REMAIN IN PLACE OVER NORTH TEXAS THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS...BUT SOME LIGHT SHOWERS WITHIN MOIST BOUNDARY LAYER BELOW THE INVERSION WILL STREAM ACROSS THIS EVENING/OVERNIGHT. A SQUALL LINE WILL ORGANIZE OVER WEST TEXAS BY 10 PM AND RAPIDLY MOVE EAST INTO WESTERN ZONES LATE TONIGHT. MEANWHILE...CAP WILL BE LIFTED ADIABATICALLY LATE TONIGHT WITH THE APPROACH OF THE UPPER LEVEL FORCING. ALTHOUGH CAP SHOULD ERODE...IT WILL COME AT THE EXPENSE OF AND LIMIT INSTABILITY. AS SQUALL LINE MOVES INTO INCREASINGLY STABLE ENVIRONMENT...WE EXPECT IT TO WEAKEN IN INTENSITY. THERE IS A VERY SMALL CHANCE OF DAMAGING WINDS OVER THE WESTERN ZONES TONIGHT AS SOME OF THE STRONG WINDS ALOFT MAY MIX DOWN...BUT AGAIN LIMITED INSTABILITY WILL MITIGATE THIS POTENTIAL. WEAKENING LINE OF CONVECTION SHOULD ARRIVE INTO THE I-35 CORRIDOR RIGHT AROUND 6 AM. THIS IS THE START/END OF THE VERIFICATION PERIOD...SO POPS ARE SPLIT AND ARTIFICIALLY LOW DUE TO 1-2 HOUR TIMING UNCERTAINTIES. THE CHANCE OF RAIN OVER ALL OF NORTH TEXAS FROM THIS EVENT IS SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 80-100 PERCENT. HIGHEST QPF WILL BE OVER THE NORTHWEST...RANGING FROM 3/4 TO 1 INCH...TAPERING DOWN TO JUST 1/4 INCH IN THE SOUTHEAST. RAIN WILL CLEAR THE AREA FROM WEST TO EAST DURING THE DAY...AND EXPECT SUNNY/WARM CONDITIONS TO PREVAIL OVER THE WESTERN/CENTRAL ZONES MONDAY AFTERNOON. S/SW WINDS WILL REMAIN BREEZY AND RH WILL BOTTOM OUT NEAR 20-25 PERCENT WEST OF I-35. THIS OCCURRING ON ANY OTHER DAY THIS SEASON WOULD WARRANT A RED FLAG WARNING...BUT GIVEN THE HIGH CONFIDENCE IN SIGNIFICANT/WETTING RAINS OVERNIGHT WE BELIEVE FIRE THREAT IS LOW. THE NEXT...AND STRONGER UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM...WILL MOVE ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PLAINS LATE TUESDAY AND BRING A RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER TO NORTH TEXAS. STRONG DYNAMICS ASSOCIATED WITH COMPACT CLOSED UPPER LOW WILL CREATE ROBUST WIND FIELDS AND IMPRESSIVE SHEAR PROFILES. SHEAR OF THIS MAGNITUDE IS COMMON WITH SYSTEMS IN THE COOL SEASON...HOWEVER THEY USUALLY HAVE LIMITED INSTABILITY TO WORK WITH. THIS DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE THE CASE THIS TIME. RICH MOISTURE...CHARACTERIZED BY DEWPOINTS NEAR 60 DEGREES...WILL CREATE AMPLE INSTABILITY WITH CAPES PROGGED OVER 1000 J/KG BY SEVERAL MODELS AND SREF MEMBERS. SHEAR/INSTABILITY SHOULD BE IN PLACE FOR A TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING SEVERE WEATHER EVENT. WHETHER OR NOT THIS WILL BE A SIGNIFICANT/TORNADIC EVENT...DEPENDS ON HOW THE MESOSCALE PLAYS OUT...WHICH JUST CANT BE DEDUCED YET. PACIFIC FRONT WILL CLEAR THE AREA WEDNESDAY MORNING WITH RATHER NICE AND TRANQUIL WEATHER EXPECTED FOR WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. ANOTHER SHORTWAVE WILL MOVE ACROSS THE PLAINS ON FRIDAY...BUT IT APPEARS MOISTURE/INSTABILITY WILL BE LIMITED AND THEREFORE CHANCES OF RAIN WILL BE LIMITED TO JUST THE EAST. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN NEAR OR JUST SLIGHTLY ABOVE SEASONAL NORMALS. YET ANOTHER SHORTWAVE WILL MOVE ACROSS SUNDAY...WITH LOW CHANCES OF RAIN RETURNING TO THE FORECAST AGAIN. TR.92 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DALLAS-FT. WORTH, TX 56 74 52 72 51 / 60 80 0 40 60 WACO, TX 57 75 55 75 50 / 40 70 5 30 40 PARIS, TX 58 69 52 69 50 / 20 90 5 50 80 DENTON, TX 55 74 46 71 48 / 70 80 0 40 60 MCKINNEY, TX 58 73 49 71 51 / 50 90 0 40 80 DALLAS, TX 57 74 54 72 54 / 50 90 0 40 70 TERRELL, TX 58 72 55 72 54 / 30 90 5 40 80 CORSICANA, TX 58 72 58 74 53 / 30 70 5 40 70 TEMPLE, TX 57 76 56 75 50 / 40 50 5 30 30 && .FWD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 AM CST MONDAY FOR TXZ091>093-100>104- 115>120-129>134-141>146-156>161-174-175. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 1140 PM CST SUN FEB 8 2009 TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-091200- MONTAGUE-COOKE-GRAYSON-FANNIN-LAMAR-YOUNG-JACK-WISE-DENTON-COLLIN- HUNT-DELTA-HOPKINS-STEPHENS-PALO PINTO-PARKER-TARRANT-DALLAS- ROCKWALL-KAUFMAN-VAN ZANDT-RAINS-EASTLAND-ERATH-HOOD-SOMERVELL- JOHNSON-ELLIS-HENDERSON-COMANCHE-MILLS-HAMILTON-BOSQUE-HILL-NAVARRO- FREESTONE-ANDERSON-LAMPASAS-CORYELL-BELL-MCLENNAN-FALLS-LIMESTONE- LEON-MILAM-ROBERTSON- 1140 PM CST SUN FEB 8 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT THROUGH 6 AM MONDAY FOR LOCATIONS ALONG AND WEST OF A LINE FROM SHERMAN TO CORSICANA TO FRANKLIN. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE THROUGH NORTH TEXAS OVERNIGHT AND INTO THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. GUSTY WINDS TO 45 MPH WILL ACCOMPANY THESE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT ANTICIPATED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING PRIMARILY ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF OF NORTH TEXAS. SEVERE WEATHER IS BECOMING MORE LIKELY WITH THIS SYSTEM...INCLUDING THE POSSIBILITY OF ISOLATED TORNADOES ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF OF NORTH TEXAS INTO THE ARKLATEX REGION BY TUESDAY EVENING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED OVERNIGHT WITH THIS ACTIVITY. SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE REQUIRED ACROSS A GOOD PORTION OF NORTH TEXAS ON TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT. DUNN
The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 79 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 08:21 UTC.
9 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Sign damage occurred to the Metro Grocery Store and the Sonic. Part of the foam roof was also torn off the Metro Grocery Store.
A spotter reported a 64 MPH wind gust near Hicks Airfield.
A spotter measured a 63 MPH wind gust west of Texas Motor Speedway.
A wind gust of 71 MPH was measured at Alliance Airport.
Prosper Fire Chief reports 7 or 8 barns and outbuildings were damaged by high winds.
A 100-foot Internet tower was snapped in half at the Greenbelt Business Park. A trailer on the same property was pushed 70 feet across a driveway. At the Denton Crossing shopping center at Loop 288 and Brinker Road, utility poles were knocked down.
Outbuildings in Argyle were overturned in high winds.
Texas New Mexico Power company reports a 55-foot utility pole was snapped south of Pilot Point.
A carport was destroyed and a tree uprooted in Aubrey.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, February 2009
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: 154235, 154232, 154984, 154233, 154234, 154236, 154237, 154238, 154239.