Texas, 2012

Drought in Texas, August 1 to 31, 2012

August 1 to 31, 2012 · NWS OUN · 8 events in 8 counties and zones

Hot and dry conditions continued for much of the month beneath a persistent upper-level ridge over the southern Plains. Drought conditions in western north Texas remained severe.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 8 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
8

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.

Hot and dry conditions continued for much of the month beneath a persistent upper-level ridge over the southern Plains. Drought conditions in western north Texas remained severe.

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 Jul 31, 1:52 PM CST, 10 hours 8 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 1:52 PM CST, 10 hours 8 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
252 PM CDT TUE JUL 31 2012

.DISCUSSION...
A VERY HOT AND STAGNANT WEATHER PATTERN WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE
END OF THE WEEK AS AN IMPRESSIVE UPPER RIDGE REMAINS PARKED OVER
OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS. AT THE SURFACE...A WEAK FRONT WILL REMAIN
STALLED NEAR THE KANSAS OKLAHOMA BORDER. SLIGHT COOLING MAY OCCUR
BEHIND THE FRONT...BUT LOW TO MID 100S ARE STILL EXPECTED.
ELSEWHERE...TEMPERATURES WILL RANGE FROM 105 TO 110 WITH THE
HOTTEST DAY EXPECTED TOMORROW. THE HEAT ADVISORY WILL CONTINUE
THROUGH AT LEAST FRIDAY NIGHT AND MAY BE EXTENDED INTO THE WEEKEND
IN FUTURE FORECASTS. NOCTURNAL CONVECTION MAY DRIVE THE FRONT
INTO OKLAHOMA EARLY EACH DAY THROUGH FRIDAY...WITH A GRADUAL
RETURN TO THE NORTH EACH AFTERNOON. GIVEN LACK OF UPPER SUPPORT
FOR CONVECTION...RAINFALL CHANCES WOULD BE ZERO...BUT GIVEN
PRESENCE OF FRONTAL BOUNDARY AND ITS PRESENCE ALONG THE NORTHERN
PERIPHERY OF THE RIDGE...VERY ISOLATED SHOWERS/STORMS MAY DEVELOP
OVER KANSAS AND MAKE THEIR WAY INTO FAR NRN OKLAHOMA EACH EVENING.
FOR NOW WILL STICK WITH THE DRY TREND AS ANYTHING THAT MANAGES TO
DEVELOP WILL LIKELY BE BRIEF AND ISOLATED.

BY FRIDAY NIGHT...MODELS BRING A STRONG STORM SYSTEM INTO THE
NORTHERN PLAINS AND UPPER MIDWEST. THIS WILL RESULT IN WEAK HEIGHT
FALLS. GIVEN PRESENCE OF WEAK BOUNDARY...AT LEAST ISOLATED
CONVECTION IS EXPECTED FRIDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT. WILL KEEP SLIGHT
CHANCE POPS IN THE FORECAST DURING THIS TIMEFRAME GIVEN DECENT
MODEL AGREEMENT. A COLD FRONT WILL ALSO APPROACH OKLAHOMA THROUGH
THE WEEKEND...BUT MODELS AGREEMENT IS STILL RELATIVELY POOR
REGARDING MOVEMENT OF UPPER RIDGE. WILL KEEP CURRENT FORECAST
INTACT WITH VERY LOW RAIN CHANCES AND HIGHS REMAINING IN THE 100S
THROUGH THE EXTENDED PERIOD.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
OKLAHOMA CITY OK  80 110  80 107 /   0   0  10  10
HOBART OK         77 109  77 109 /   0   0   0   0
WICHITA FALLS TX  79 110  80 110 /   0   0   0   0
GAGE OK           74 108  77 106 /   0  10  10  10
PONCA CITY OK     79 106  78 107 /  10  10  10  10
DURANT OK         78 106  77 106 /   0   0   0  10

&&

.OUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OK...HEAT ADVISORY UNTIL 10 PM CDT FRIDAY FOR OKZ004>048-050>052.

TX...HEAT ADVISORY UNTIL 10 PM CDT FRIDAY FOR TXZ083>090.

&&

11/AUSTIN
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 31, 10:55 AM CST, 13 hours 5 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
1155 AM CDT TUE JUL 31 2012

OKZ004>048-050>052-TXZ083>090-011000-
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-
1155 AM CDT TUE JUL 31 2012

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK COVERS NORTHERN...WESTERN...
CENTRAL...AND SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA...AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...

THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...
STORM CHANCES WILL REMAIN VERY LOW.

DISCUSSION...
A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL BECOME STATIONARY OVER NORTHERN
PORTIONS OF OKLAHOMA LATE TODAY. ALTHOUGH THE ATMOSPHERE IS EXPECTED
TO STAY TOO DRY AND STABLE TO SUPPORT THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE
FRONT...ANY STORMS THAT FORM NORTH OF THE FRONT TONIGHT WILL TRY
TO APPROACH EXTREME NORTHERN OKLAHOMA LATE TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY
MORNING. ANY STORMS THAT HAPPEN TO REACH NORTHERN OKLAHOMA WOULD BE
ISOLATED AND WEAK.

PROBABILITY TABLE...
VALID THROUGH 700 AM CDT WEDNESDAY AUG 1.
PROBABILITY OF THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRING IN THE
              NWS NORMAN COUNTY WARNING AREA...10 PERCENT.
PROBABILITY OF SEVERE STORMS IF STORMS OCCUR...5 PERCENT.

OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER...
A HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE ENTIRE REGION. PLEASE
FOLLOW HEAT SAFETY GUIDELINES AND LIMIT STRENUOUS OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
THROUGH EARLY EVENING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY...

THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...
BRIEF AND ISOLATED STORMS MAY AFFECT FAR NORTHERN OKLAHOMA WEDNESDAY
THROUGH SUNDAY. IF STORMS DO OCCUR THEY ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE
SEVERE AND WILL HAVE LITTLE EFFECT ON THE ONGOING HEAT AND DROUGHT.

OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER...
VERY TO EXTREMELY HOT TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT THE
AREA THROUGH FRIDAY. A HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE
ENTIRE REGION. PLEASE FOLLOW HEAT SAFETY GUIDELINES AND LIMIT
STRENUOUS OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES.

THE NEXT SCHEDULED HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED AROUND
5 AM WEDNESDAY.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Archer

When
August 1, 12:00 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where
Archer forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
33.615, -98.688 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

D2 (severe) drought continued through the month with persistent dry conditions.

Drought, Baylor

When
August 1, 12:00 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where
Baylor forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
33.617, -99.213 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

D3 (extreme) drought continued through the month with persistent dry conditions.

Drought, Clay

When
August 1, 12:00 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where
Clay forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
33.786, -98.208 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

D2 (severe) drought continued through the month with persistent dry conditions.

Drought, Foard

When
August 1, 12:00 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where
Foard forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
33.975, -99.778 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

D3 (extreme) drought continued through the month with persistent dry conditions.

Drought, Hardeman

When
August 1, 12:00 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where
Hardeman forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
34.290, -99.746 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

D3 (extreme) drought continued through the month with persistent dry conditions.

Drought, Knox

When
August 1, 12:00 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where
Knox forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
33.606, -99.741 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

D3 (extreme) drought continued through the month with persistent dry conditions.

Drought, Wichita

When
August 1, 12:00 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where
Wichita forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
33.988, -98.704 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

D3 (extreme) drought continued through the month with persistent dry conditions.

Drought, Wilbarger

When
August 1, 12:00 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where
Wilbarger forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
34.081, -99.241 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

D3 (extreme) drought continued through the month with persistent dry conditions.

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

More

Every storm in Texas in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, August 2012

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: 397184, 397185, 397186, 397187, 397189, 397190, 397191, 397192.