Drought, Hardeman
- When
- February 22, 12:00 AM CST to February 28, 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Hardeman forecast zone
- Reported by
- Other Federal Agency
- Coordinates
- 34.290, -99.746 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Drought in Texas, February 22 to 28, 2011
Several months of below normal precipitation continued to wreak havoc on north Texas' agriculture. Summer and fall crops, hay forages, and alfalfa were hit hard by the lack of any significant precipitation.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 4
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.
What happened
The episode as NWS OUN wrote it up.
Several months of below normal precipitation continued to wreak havoc on north Texas' agriculture. Summer and fall crops, hay forages, and alfalfa were hit hard by the lack of any significant precipitation. Farm pond water levels continued to decrease, or dry up altogether, which added insult to injury for area livestock. The extent of the damage was still undetermined monetary, but it was beginning to look like a total loss for many Texas farmers.
What forecasters said that day
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 Norman, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 21, 11:10 PM CST, 50 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 21, 11:10 PM CST, 50 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK 1110 PM CST MON FEB 21 2011 .AVIATION... LIGHT NORTHEAST WINDS OVERNIGHT WILL BECOME SOUTHEAST BY LATE MORNING ON TUESDAY. A FEW GUSTS OVER 20KTS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS NORTHWEST OKLAHOMA BY AFTERNOON. OTHERWISE A FEW HIGH CLOUDS TONIGHT. COULD SEE SOME LATE DAY CU DEVELOPMENT ACROSS SOUTHWEST AS MOISTURE RETURNS TO THE AREA. SOME MVFR CEILING WILL BE POSSIBLE. 30 && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 900 PM CST MON FEB 21 2011/ .UPDATE... SUBFREEZING TEMPERATURES EXPECTED OVERNIGHT AS WINDS CONTINUE TO DIMINISH AND MID/HIGH CLOUDS THIN OUT. HAVE LOWERED TEMPS A FEW DEGREES OVER MAINLY THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE AREA WHERE COOLING HAS BEEN AT A FASTER PACE THAN FORECAST. OTHERWISE... FEW OTHER CHANGES MADE. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 505 PM CST MON FEB 21 2011/ AVIATION... SFC HIGH WILL GRADUALLY SHIFT EAST LATE TONIGHT AND ON TUESDAY. THIS WILL ALLOW WINDS TO SHIFT TO THE EAST TONIGHT AND TO THE SOUTH/SOUTHEAST DURING THE DAY ON TUESDAY. OTHERWISE... A FEW HIGH CLOUDS WILL MOVE THROUGH THE SITES TONIGHT AS MINOR DISTURBANCE MOVES OUT OF BASE OF SOUTHWEST TROUGH OUT INTO THE PLAINS OVERNIGHT. 30 PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 346 PM CST MON FEB 21 2011/ DISCUSSION... GUSTY NORTH WINDS WILL DECREASE THIS EVENING IN THE WAKE OF A COLD FRONT. TEMPERATURES THIS AFTERNOON ARE A FEW DEGREES COOLER THAN GUIDANCE NUMBERS SO WILL TWEAK OVERNIGHT LOWS DOWN A FEW DEGREES. SHORTWAVE OVER ARIZONA/ NEW MEXICO WILL LIFT NORTHEAST AND SHOULD BRING VARIABLE HIGH CLOUDS OVERNIGHT. CIRCULATION AROUND SURFACE HIGH SHOULD KEEP HIGHER DEWPOINT AIR SOUTH UNTIL LATE TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY AM. WILL ADD A MENTION OF FOG TO SOUTHWEST 1/4 OF FA AS DRIER AIR MAY LIMIT FOG POTENTIAL FARTHER EAST. STORM SYSTEM CURRENTLY OFF THE CALIFORNIA COAST WILL BRING A DECENT CHANCE FOR RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS BEGINNING WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY. TIMING WITH THIS SYSTEM MAY LIMIT THUNDERSTORM STRENGTH...BUT ENOUGH INSTABILITY AND SHEAR SHOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR STORMS TO PRODUCE MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL. COLDER AIR WILL FILTER INTO THE AREA BEHIND THE THURSDAY SYSTEM...BUT MUCH COLDER AIR IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN NORTH OF THE AREA. CONFIDENCE IN FORECAST FROM SATURDAY INTO MONDAY IS RATHER LOW AT THIS TIME. ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM MAY APPROACH THE SOUTHERN PLAINS LATE SUNDAY INTO MONDAY. ENOUGH COLD AIR MAY BE AVAILABLE FOR RAIN TO CHANGE TO SNOW ACROSS NORTHERN OKLAHOMA WITH BETTER CHANCES FOR RAIN FARTHER SOUTH. ABOUT 25 PERCENT OF THE GFS ENSEMBLE MEMBERS SUPPORT THE TIMING AND MOVEMENT OF THE SUNDAY INTO MONDAY SYSTEM PER THE GFS/EC. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... OKLAHOMA CITY OK 28 60 44 68 / 0 0 10 10 HOBART OK 25 60 41 69 / 0 0 0 10 WICHITA FALLS TX 29 64 48 72 / 0 0 10 10 GAGE OK 23 61 36 72 / 0 0 0 0 PONCA CITY OK 21 57 42 66 / 0 0 10 10 DURANT OK 31 62 47 68 / 0 0 10 20 && .OUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OK...NONE. TX...NONE. && 32/06
Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 21, 10:40 PM CST, 1 hour 20 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
1040 PM CST MON FEB 21 2011
OKZ004>048-050>052-TXZ083>090-221300-
HARPER-WOODS-ALFALFA-GRANT-KAY-ELLIS-WOODWARD-MAJOR-GARFIELD-
NOBLE-ROGER MILLS-DEWEY-CUSTER-BLAINE-KINGFISHER-LOGAN-PAYNE-
BECKHAM-WASHITA-CADDO-CANADIAN-OKLAHOMA-LINCOLN-GRADY-MCCLAIN-
CLEVELAND-POTTAWATOMIE-SEMINOLE-HUGHES-HARMON-GREER-KIOWA-JACKSON-
TILLMAN-COMANCHE-STEPHENS-GARVIN-MURRAY-PONTOTOC-COAL-COTTON-
JEFFERSON-CARTER-JOHNSTON-ATOKA-LOVE-MARSHALL-BRYAN-HARDEMAN-
FOARD-WILBARGER-WICHITA-KNOX-BAYLOR-ARCHER-CLAY-
1040 PM CST MON FEB 21 2011
THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK COVERS NORTHERN...WESTERN...
CENTRAL...AND SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA...AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS.
.DAY ONE...OVERNIGHT...
THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...
NO THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED.
DISCUSSION...
A MUCH COOLER AND DRY AIRMASS IS IN PLACE...PREVENTING THUNDERSTORM
DEVELOPMENT.
PROBABILITY TABLE...
VALID THROUGH 700 AM CST TUESDAY FEB 22.
PROBABILITY OF THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRING IN THE
NWS NORMAN COUNTY WARNING AREA...ZERO PERCENT.
OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER...
NONE.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...
THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...
LATER IN THE WEEK...AN UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM IS FORECAST TO MOVE
ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN PLAINS...WHILE A MODEST FETCH OF
GULF MOISTURE WILL BE IN PLACE. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH
THIS SYSTEM WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY. ENOUGH INSTABILITY MAY
ALSO DEVELOP FOR A FEW OF THE STORMS TO BECOME SEVERE.
OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER...
HIGHLY ELEVATED WILDFIRE CONDITIONS MAY OCCUR AGAIN ON THURSDAY
ACROSS PARTS OF WESTERN OKLAHOMA AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS.
THE NEXT SCHEDULED HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED BY 5 AM
TUESDAY.The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
4 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Drought, Wilbarger
- When
- February 22, 12:00 AM CST to February 28, 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Wilbarger forecast zone
- Reported by
- Other Federal Agency
- Coordinates
- 34.081, -99.241 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Drought, Wichita
- When
- February 22, 12:00 AM CST to February 28, 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Wichita forecast zone
- Reported by
- Other Federal Agency
- Coordinates
- 33.988, -98.704 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Drought, Foard
- When
- February 22, 12:00 AM CST to February 28, 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Foard forecast zone
- Reported by
- Other Federal Agency
- Coordinates
- 33.975, -99.778 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Drought
- A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Blizzard and Winter Storm in Alaska, February 22 to 26, 2011
- Wildfire in Texas, February 22 to 24, 2011
- Drought in Oklahoma, February 22 to 28, 2011
- Blizzard and Heavy Snow in Washington, February 22 to 24, 2011
- Heavy Snow in Washington, February 22 to 24, 2011
- Drought in New Mexico, February 22 to 28, 2011
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, February 22 to 24, 2011
- Drought in Alabama, February 22 to 28, 2011
- Winter Storm in Montana, February 22 to 24, 2011
- Drought in Texas, February 22 to 28, 2011
- Heavy Snow in Oregon, February 22 to 24, 2011
- Avalanche in Colorado, February 22, 2011
More
Every storm in Texas in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, February 2011
Sources
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: 277162, 277163, 277164, 277165.