Most counties in the region received less than an inch of rain during the month and drought conditions continued to worsen. Many locations started the month in abnormally dry (D0) or moderate (D1) drought and ended the month in severe (D2) or extreme (D3) drought.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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 episode as NWS FWD wrote it up.
Most counties in the region received less than an inch of rain during the month and drought conditions continued to worsen. Many locations started the month in abnormally dry (D0) or moderate (D1) drought and ended the month in severe (D2) or extreme (D3) drought. In north Texas, the drought was the worst in the southern and eastern counties. At the end of the month, 40 of the 46 counties in north Texas were experiencing at least severe drought (D2) conditions and 26 counties had burn bans in effect.
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 Mar 20, 10:38 PM CST, 1 hour 22 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 1138 PM CDT SUN MAR 20 2011 .AVIATION... THE MAIN AVIATION WEATHER CONCERNS WITH THIS TAF PACKAGE WILL BE MVFR CEILINGS OVERNIGHT/MONDAY MORNING AND GUSTY SOUTHERLY WINDS. KFWS VWP INDICATES A 40 KNOT WIND AROUND 2000 FT. LOW CLOUDS CONTINUE TO FORM OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTH TEXAS. EXPECT THE MVFR CEILINGS TO REACH WACO BY 08Z AND THE METROPLEX TAF SITES AROUND 09Z. THE LOW CLOUDS SHOULD SCATTER OUT BY LATE MORNING MONDAY. HOWEVER...A MID LEVEL CLOUD DECK WILL REMAIN IN PLACE DURING THE DAYLIGHT HOURS MONDAY. A SOUTH WIND WILL PREVAIL THROUGH MONDAY EVENING AT SPEEDS BETWEEN 11 AND 15 KNOTS AT NIGHT AND BETWEEN 14 AND 18 KNOTS DURING THE DAYLIGHT HOURS WITH SOME GUSTS NEAR 30 KNOTS...ESPECIALLY IN THE AFTERNOON. .UPDATE... CURRENT FORECAST IS ON TRACK AND ONLY SIGNIFICANT CHANGE WAS TO INCREASE OVERNIGHT LOWS ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HALF A DEGREE OR TWO. HIGH LEVEL CLOUDS CONTINUE TO OVERSPREAD THE REGION AND WILL PROVIDE MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES FOR MUCH OF THE NIGHT...ALONG WITH THE RETURN OF STRATUS LATER TONIGHT. THE WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN BETWEEN 5 AND 15 MPH TONIGHT ACROSS THE REGION. WILL NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES TO THE FORECAST BEYOND TONIGHT BUT MODEL DATA IS NOW STARTING TO INDICATE CONVECTION DEVELOPING ALONG THE DRYLINE ON TUESDAY. HOWEVER...FORECAST SOUNDINGS STILL INDICATE A STRONGLY CAPPED ENVIRONMENT AND A NARROW CORRIDOR OF WEAK TO MODERATE INSTABILITY. WILL BE ASSESSING ALL THE EVENING MODEL DATA AS IT ARRIVED DURING THE NIGHT TO BETTER REFINE TUESDAYS FORECAST. 82/JLD && .AVIATION... A PERSISTENT WEATHER PATTERN WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY WITH LATE NIGHT/MORNING STRATUS AND A GUSTY SOUTHERLY WIND. EXPECT VFR CEILINGS BETWEEN 5000 AND 6000 FT TO SCATTER AND DISSIPATE AFTER SUNSET. ANOTHER 40+ KNOT LOW LEVEL JET WILL SET UP THIS EVENING WITH SURFACE LOW PRESSURE ACROSS THE HIGH PLAINS AND HIGH PRESSURE ANCHORED IN THE EAST. MVFR CEILINGS SHOULD ARRIVE IN WACO BY 09Z AND AROUND 10Z AT THE METROPLEX TAF SITES. EXPECT LOW CLOUDS TO SCATTER OUT BY LATE MORNING MONDAY. HOWEVER...MID LEVEL CLOUDS WILL REMAIN THROUGH THE DAY. A SOUTH WIND WILL PREVAIL THROUGH MONDAY AT SPEEDS BETWEEN 11 AND 15 KNOTS THIS EVENING WITH SOME HIGHER GUSTS BEFORE SUNSET. WIND SPEEDS WILL INCREASE MID TO LATE MORNING MONDAY AT SPEEDS BETWEEN 15 AND 18 KNOTS ALONG WITH SOME GUSTS NEAR 30 KNOTS. 79 && .PREV UPDATE... .UPDATE... QUICK UPDATE TO REMOVE THE LATE AFTERNOON WORDING FROM THE ZONES. A FEW THINGS TO WATCH THIS EVENING FOR THE LATE EVENING UPDATE WILL BE CLOUD COVERAGE AND TRENDS AND THE POTENTIAL FOR THE WINDS TO INCREASE OVERNIGHT AGAIN. LAST NIGHT...A 50 KT LOW LEVEL JET RESULTED IN SURFACE WIND SPEEDS INCREASING AROUND MIDNIGHT AND REMAINING ABOVE 15 MPH FOR MANY LOCATIONS UNTIL CLOSE TO SUNRISE. THE MOS GUIDANCE CONSIDERABLY UNDER FORECAST THE WINDS LAST NIGHT. THE LATEST MODEL RUNS SUGGEST THAT THE LOW LEVEL JET WILL REMAIN IN THE 20 TO 30 KT RANGE OVERNIGHT BUT WILL CLOSELY BE WATCHING THE AREA VWPS AND AIRCRAFT SOUNDINGS FOR INDICATIONS OF A STRONGER LOW LEVEL JET AND THUS STRONGER WINDS OVERNIGHT THAN ARE CURRENTLY FORECAST. WILL ALSO BE WATCHING STRATUS DEVELOPMENT LATER TONIGHT ALONG THE TEXAS COAST AS THE MODELS HAVE NOT HANDLED THE STRATUS WELL THE LAST FEW DAYS. HOWEVER...THE WESTERN HALF OF THE CWA IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN MOSTLY CLOUDY FOR THE EVENING HOURS. 82/JLD && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 357 PM CDT SUN MAR 20 2011/ WE HAVE HAD ANOTHER WARM AND BREEZY DAY WITH OCCASIONAL GUSTS AROUND 30 MPH THIS AFTERNOON. THE WINDS WILL DECREASE AT LEAST TEMPORARILY AFTER SUNSET...BUT MAY PICK UP AGAIN AFTER 04Z AS A LOW LEVEL JET DEVELOPS. LOW CLOUDS WILL SPREAD NORTHWARD OVERNIGHT INTO MONDAY MORNING WITH SKIES BECOMING PARTLY CLOUDY/PARTLY SUNNY MONDAY AFTERNOON. THE WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 15 TO 25 MPH AGAIN BY MIDDAY. AS A SHORT WAVE MOVES OUT ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PLAINS...A DRY LINE WILL MOVE EAST INTO THE WESTERN PART OF NORTH TEXAS LATE TUESDAY AFTERNOON. FORCING SHOULD TEND TO WEAKEN THE CAP...BUT AT THIS TIME IT APPEARS THAT WE WILL REMAIN CAPPED TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING SO HAVE NOT MENTIONED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE FORECAST. WE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THIS AS IF STORMS WERE TO DEVELOP...THEY WOULD LIKELY BECOME SEVERE. A COLD FRONT WILL CATCH UP WITH THE DRYLINE TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY AND MOVE THROUGH NORTH TEXAS. WARM AND DRY WEATHER WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE END OF THE WORK WEEK. HAVE LEFT A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS FOR SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY AS ANOTHER SHORTWAVE AND COLD FRONT APPROACH AND THEN MOVE THROUGH THE REGION. 58 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DALLAS-FT. WORTH, TX 63 81 62 84 61 / 0 5 10 10 10 WACO, TX 63 81 63 85 61 / 0 5 10 10 10 PARIS, TX 58 79 59 81 59 / 0 5 5 10 10 DENTON, TX 61 80 62 84 56 / 0 5 10 10 10 MCKINNEY, TX 61 80 62 82 60 / 0 5 10 10 10 DALLAS, TX 63 81 63 85 62 / 0 5 10 10 10 TERRELL, TX 60 81 62 81 61 / 0 5 10 10 10 CORSICANA, TX 63 82 63 81 62 / 0 5 10 10 10 TEMPLE, TX 65 80 63 82 62 / 0 5 10 10 10 MINERAL WELLS, TX 60 83 62 89 53 / 0 5 10 10 10 && .FWD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 79/82
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 340 PM CDT SUN MAR 20 2011 TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-211200- 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- 340 PM CDT SUN MAR 20 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. ELEVATED FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS WESTERN PARTS OF NORTH TEXAS ON TUESDAY AFTERNOON. THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS SATURDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. 25
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
According to the US Drought Monitor, the county started the month with only abnormally dry conditions (D0). With little to no rainfall, drought conditions worsened and the county ended the month in extreme drought (D3).
According to the US Drought Monitor, the county started the month with only abnormally dry conditions (D0). With little to no rainfall, drought conditions worsened and the county ended the month in extreme drought (D3).
According to the US Drought Monitor, the county started the month in moderate drought (D1). With little to no rainfall, drought conditions worsened and the county ended the month in severe drought (D2).
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, March 2011
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: 294109, 294110, 294111.