Severe to extreme drought continued to grip much of the Big Country, western Concho Valley and the Northern Edwards Plateau. Exceptional drought continued to plague Fisher and Haskell Counties.
Every event with a place to put it; 12 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 SJT wrote it up.
Severe to extreme drought continued to grip much of the Big Country, western Concho Valley and the Northern Edwards Plateau. Exceptional drought continued to plague Fisher and Haskell Counties. The community of Robert Lee continues to build a pipe line that will bring water into the community from the Oak Creek Reservoir and nearby groundwater sources. Surface water supplies are still low due to limited runoff from rainfall. The City of San Angelo enacted drought level two water restrictions on April 17, since there is 18 months of water left. Several other cities like Abilene and Brownwood have also enacted water restrictions because of the dwindling water supply.
Most oats and wheat were being either grazed out or baled instead of being harvested for grain. Rangeland and pasture conditions started to decline because of lack of rain for the last few weeks.
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 San Angelo, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 31, 10:49 PM CST, 1 hour 11 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 1149 PM CDT SAT MAR 31 2012 .DISCUSSION... LOOKS LIKE VFR CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS. SEE THE BELOW AVIATION SECTION. && .AVIATION... LATEST MODELS DID NOT INDICATE ANY NEED FOR CHANGES TO THE CURRENT TERMINALS. GUSTY SOUTHWEST SURFACE WINDS TOMORROW AFTERNOON STILL LOOK LIKELY. HUBER && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 635 PM CDT SAT MAR 31 2012/ DISCUSSION... EXPECT VFR CONDITIONS TO CONTINUE ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS. AVIATION BELOW HAS ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. AVIATION... MODELS CONTINUE TO HOLD A SURFACE TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE...AND AN ASSOCIATED SURFACE DRYLINE...IN THE TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO AREA FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS. THE LATEST RUC INDICATES THE SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL INCREASE ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS OVERNIGHT TONIGHT. THUS...LOOK FOR GUSTY SOUTHWEST SURFACE WINDS TO DOMINATE WEST CENTRAL TEXAS BY 06Z TONIGHT. FOR TOMORROW AFTERNOON...WATCH FOR STRONGER SOUTHWEST SURFACE WINDS AS THE SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT STRENGTHENS ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. HUBER PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 334 PM CDT SAT MAR 31 2012/ SHORT TERM... AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL AMPLIFY THROUGH TOMORROW AS IT BUILDS EAST OF THE FORECAST AREA AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING UPPER LEVEL TROUGH... WHICH WILL BE OVER THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES BY LATE TOMORROW. HOT AND DRY WEATHER WILL CONTINUE ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS TOMORROW WITH LOW TO UPPER 90S OVER THE CWA...THE WARMEST TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE OVER THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE CWA AS THE 850MB THERMAL RIDGE LIFTS FURTHER TO THE NORTH. 15 LONG TERM... THE DEEP CLOSED LOW OFF THE PACNW COAST WILL BE A PLAYER IN OUR WEATHER AS THE LONG TERM OPENS BUT THE MEDIUM RANGE MODELS CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE WITH THE TIMING. THE LATEST RUNS SUGGEST THAT THIS FEATURE WILL SLOW AS IT MOVES ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST CONUS...LIFTING NORTHEAST ACROSS THE TX PANHANDLE AFTER 00Z WEDNESDAY. THIS LATER ARRIVAL WILL LIKELY RESULT IN THE DRYLINE SETTING UP FARTHER WEST THAN PREVIOUS ANTICIPATED GIVEN WEAKER FORCING. STRONG SYNOPTIC LIFT /DEPICTED BY H5-H3 Q VECTOR CONVERGENCE/ IS PROGGED TO REMAIN WEST OF THE CWA UNTIL MONDAY NIGHT BY WHICH TIME THE DRYLINE WILL BE RETREATING. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ALONG AND EAST OF THE DRYLINE LATE MONDAY AFTERNOON. SURFACE TEMPS IN THE MID/UPPER 80S AND DEWPOINTS WILL RESULT IN SIGNIFICANT INSTABILITY /SBCAPES OF 1500-3000/ BUT A SLOWER ARRIVAL OF SYNOPTIC ASCENT MAY RESULT IN THE CAP HOLDING STRONG AND LIMITING THE CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL /ESPECIALLY IN THE EAST IN THE AREA OF STRONGEST INSTABILITY/...MUCH OF THE CHAGRIN OF THE SOUTHERN PLAINS CHASE COMMUNITY. I OPTED TO MAINTAIN THE INHERITED POPS ON THE CENTRAL AND EAST ON MONDAY AFTERNOON BUT EXPANDED THEM WEST MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY TO ACCOUNT FOR THE SLOWER TIMING. COOLER TEMPS ARE EXPECTED ON TUESDAY AS A PACIFIC COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE AREA. I LOWERED MAX TEMPS INTO THE MID/UPPER 70S BUT FEEL I MAY STILL BE A FEW DEGREES ON THE WARM SIDE BASED ON H85 TEMPS. I AM NOT SOLD ON THE AGGRESSIVE RETURN OF SOUTHERLY FLOW SHOWN BY THE GFS AND LEANED MORE HEAVILY ON THE ECMWF SOLUTION IN THE POST FRONTAL ENVIRONMENT. WITH THAT SAID...I KEPT MAX TEMPS GENERALLY AT OR JUST BELOW 80 DEGREES ON WEDNESDAY BUT DRY CONDITIONS WILL RESULT IN A VERY PLEASANT DAY. MIN TEMPS TUESDAY NIGHT ARE EXPECTED TO BE IN THE MID/UPPER 50S...WARMING SLIGHTLY /LOWER 50S/ BY WEDNESDAY NIGHT. BY THURSDAY...THE H85 THERMAL RIDGE WILL BUILD BACK OVER THE AREA WITH INCREASING SOUTHERLY WINDS. TEMPS ARE EXPECTED TO WARM BACK INTO THE MID 80S. THESE SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL BRING THE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE BACK THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY. THE MODELS ARE HINTING AT SOME CONVECTION DEVELOPING OVER WEST TX FRIDAY EVENING ALONG THE DRYLINE BUT MY GUT SAYS THAT MOISTURE RETURN WILL NOT BE ADEQUATE TO SUPPORT MORE THAN FEW HIGH BASED STORMS. THUS...NO POPS WERE INCLUDED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER...CONSIDERABLE UNCERTAINTY EXISTS AT THIS TIME. TEMPS WILL AGAIN BE WARM ON FRIDAY WITH HIGHS IN THE MID/UPPER 80S. THE GFS/DGEX DEPICT A WEAK COLD FRONT STALLING OVER THE AREA BY NEXT WEEKEND...ENHANCING RAIN CHANCES. HOWEVER...THE ECMWF KEEPS THIS BOUNDARY NORTH OF THE CWA IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM. THE ECMWF ALSO PUSHES H5 HEIGHTS UP NEAR 585DM WITH THE MID LEVEL ANTICYCLONE CENTERED OVER DEEP SOUTH TX WHEREAS THE GFS KEEPS HEIGHTS AROUND 580DM WITH THE RIDGE CENTERED OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO. I WILL LET THE MODELS CONTINUE TO TEASE US OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS BEFORE JUMPING ON ANY PARTICULAR SOLUTION. JOHNSON FIRE WEATHER... ELEVATED FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS CAN BE EXPECTED SUNDAY OVER THE BIG COUNTRY...CONCHO VALLEY AND THE NORTHERN EDWARDS PLATEAU WITH UNSEASONABLY HOT TEMPERATURES IN THE 90S CONTINUING...ACCOMPANIED BY LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES...AND SOUTHWEST WINDS BETWEEN 15 AND 20 MPH. CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE MAINLY WEST OF A LINE FROM HASKELL TO STERLING CITY SUNDAY AFTERNOON WITH 20 FOOT SOUTHWEST WINDS APPROACHING 20 MPH AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES DROPPING TO LESS THAN 10 PERCENT. 15 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... ABILENE 65 96 65 85 52 / 0 0 0 20 30 SAN ANGELO 60 96 62 86 51 / 0 0 0 20 20 JUNCTION 62 93 64 87 51 / 10 10 10 20 30 && .SJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && HUBER
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 249 PM CDT SAT MAR 31 2012 TXZ049-054-064>066-071>073-076>078-098-099-113-114-127-128-139- 140-154-155-168>170-012000- FISHER-NOLAN-STERLING-COKE-RUNNELS-IRION-TOM GREEN-CONCHO- CROCKETT-SCHLEICHER-SUTTON-HASKELL-THROCKMORTON-JONES-SHACKELFORD- TAYLOR-CALLAHAN-COLEMAN-BROWN-MCCULLOCH-SAN SABA-MENARD-KIMBLE- MASON- 249 PM CDT SAT MAR 31 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT ELEVATED FIRE DANGER CONDITIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON...WHERE WELL ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES WILL ALLOW HUMIDITY VALUES TO DROP BELOW 10 PERCENT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY A STRONG UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO WEST CENTRAL TEXAS ON MONDAY. AHEAD OF THE DRYLINE...MAINLY EAST OF AN ABILENE TO SAN ANGELO LINE...SCATTERED STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE. LARGE HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING WILL BE THE MAIN THREATS...ALTHOUGH DAMAGING WINDS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE. BEHIND THE DRYLINE...WEST OF AN ABILENE TO SAN ANGELO LINE...MUCH DRIER CONDITIONS AND GUSTY WINDS WILL CREATE THE POTENTIAL FOR DANGEROUS FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. 15
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
12 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
The U.S. Drought Monitor indicated extreme drought conditions across Crockett County during April.
The U.S. Drought Monitor indicated exceptional drought conditions across Fisher County during April.
The U.S. Drought Monitor indicated exceptional drought conditions across Haskell County during April.
The U.S. Drought Monitor indicated severe drought conditions across Irion County during April.
The U.S. Drought Monitor indicated extreme drought conditions across Jones County during April.
The U.S. Drought Monitor indicated severe drought conditions across Nolan County during April.
The U.S. Drought Monitor indicated severe drought conditions across Schleicher County during April.
The U.S. Drought Monitor indicated severe drought conditions across Shackelford County during April.
The U.S. Drought Monitor indicated severe drought conditions across Sterling County during April.
The U.S. Drought Monitor indicated severe drought conditions across Sutton County during April.
The U.S. Drought Monitor indicated severe drought conditions across Taylor County during April.
The U.S. Drought Monitor indicated severe drought conditions across Throckmorton County during April.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, April 2012
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: 378427, 378428, 378429, 378430, 378431, 378432, 378434, 378437, 378438, 378440, 378441, 378442.