The southeastern counties of North Texas were spared the worst of the drought, but still fell into D2/Severe drought conditions during the second half of the month.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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.
The southeastern counties of North Texas were spared the worst of the drought, but still fell into D2/Severe drought conditions during the second half of the month.
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 Dec 17, 11:20 PM CST, 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 1120 PM CST MON DEC 17 2012 .AVIATION... THE DUST LAYER ALOFT IS MOVING NORTH OF THE METROPLEX TAF SITES CURRENTLY AND WE WILL BE REMOVING IT FROM THE TAFS. OTHERWISE...VFR CONDITIONS WITH WINDS BECOMING SOUTH LESS THAT 6 KTS THE REST OF THE NIGHT. ON MONDAY...SPEEDS SHOULD BE 8-13KTS AT ALL SITES UNDER VFR CONDITIONS. DFW EXTENDED...CONFIDENCE IS FAIR THAT AN INCREASING LOW LEVEL JET AND LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL LEAD TO A SURGE OF LATE NIGHT STRATUS...BKN018...OVER KDFW AFTER 19/09Z. THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR IFR CONDITIONS...OVC008 AND 2SM BR...BY 19/12Z. 75 && .UPDATE... TEMPERATURES HAVE FALLEN QUICKLY THIS EVENING UNDER MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES AND LIGHT WINDS. SKIES WOULD BE COMPLETELY CLEAR IF NOT FOR A CLOUD OF DUST WHICH BLEW IN FROM WEST TEXAS...CREATING A THIN OVERCAST LAYER AT 5000-6000 FT FROM THE DFW METRO AREA NORTHWESTWARD. THE DUST LAYER SHOULD SLOWLY DISPERSE OVERNIGHT WHILE DRIFTING NORTHEAST...ALLOWING IDEAL RADIATIONAL COOLING CONDITIONS TO CONTINUE. HAVE DECREASED THE TUESDAY MORNING LOWS BY A COUPLE OF DEGREES IN MOST LOCATIONS...OTHERWISE NO MAJOR CHANGES PLANNED. 30 && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 305 PM CST MON DEC 17 2012/ SOUTH FLOW SHOULD RETURN TO NORTH TEXAS THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. FAIR SKIES SHOULD ALLOW FAIRLY GOOD COOLING TUESDAY MORNING...WITH LOWS IN THE 30S AND 40S. GULF AIR BEGINS TO RETURN TUESDAY EVENING AND MOST AREAS EXCEPT THE FAR WEST WILL SEE A CLOUDY MORNING WEDNESDAY. ANOTHER PACIFIC FRONT PUSHES THROUGH WEDNESDAY EVENING AND HAVE LEFT LOW POPS IN THE EAST. MOISTURE SEEMS TO BE LIMITED TO ABOVE 10000 FT AND LAPSE RATES ARE MOIST ADIABATIC SO SEE LITTLE CHANCE OF THUNDER. ANOTHER WARM UP OCCURS FOR THE WEEKEND...WHICH APPEARS TO BE QUITE PLEASANT. THEN... A STRONG SYSTEM...CURRENTLY LOCATED EAST OF THE KAMCHATKA PENINSULA...IS PROGGED TO MOVE FIRST INTO THE GULF OF ALASKA AND THEN INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST SUNDAY MORNING. THE GFS AND ECMWF THEN MOVE THE UPPER SYSTEM INTO THE SOUTHERN PLAINS. EVEN THOUGH IT IS A LONG WAYS OFF AND THERE WILL BE NUMEROUS MODEL CHANGES...IT APPEARS THAT NORTH TEXAS WILL SEE A MAJOR COOL OFF WITH AT LEAST DECENT CHANCES FOR RAIN BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. SHOULD THE UPPER SYSTEM TRACK FAR ENOUGH SOUTH...THIS COULD ALSO BRING WINTER WEATHER TO AT LEAST PARTS OF NORTH TEXAS. THE 12Z ECMWF TRACKS THE LOW ACROSS NORTH TEXAS CHRISTMAS EVENING...AND WITH HEIGHTS AT ITS CENTER OF 538 DM IT IS A STRONG SYSTEM. HOWEVER...THE 12Z GFS MOVES THE LOW SLOWER...AND HAS THE UPPER TROF CENTERED IN EASTERN NEW MEXICO AT THAT TIME. IT IS ALSO NOT AS STRONG WITH LOWEST HEIGHTS IN NORTH TX ABOVE 541 DM. WITH BOTH MODELS BRINGING A STRONG COLD FRONT THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON...THE TEMPERATURES WILL DROP QUICKLY BELOW FREEZING TUESDAY EVENING AND IF THERE IS ANY MOISTURE LEFT IN THE ATMOSPHERE AND ANY FORCING TO LIFT IT...WINTRY PRECIP WOULD BE EXPECTED. AGAIN...IT IS MUCH TOO EARLY TO GUARANTEE A WINTER EVENT...MODEL SOLUTION ERRORS TEND TO GROW LARGE THAT FAR IN THE FUTURE. WE CAN SAY WITH SOME CONFIDENCE THAT WE CAN EXPECT SOME TYPE OF EVENT THAT MAY INCLUDE WINTER WEATHER. MUCH COOLER TEMPERATURES ARE ALSO POSSIBLE AFTER CHRISTMAS DAY. WITH MUCH OF THE COUNTRY TRAVELING FOR THE HOLIDAYS...THIS LARGE AND POWERFUL SYSTEM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO IMPACT AIR AND ROAD TRAVEL ON A LARGE SCALE AS IT MOVES ACROSS THE COUNTRY. BE AWARE THAT CHANGES ARE COMING AND KEEP TRACK OF THE FORECAST AS THE EVENT EVOLVES. UPDATE YOUR WINTER WEATHER PLAN. 84 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DALLAS-FT. WORTH, TX 42 72 55 73 39 / 0 0 5 10 10 WACO, TX 40 75 56 74 42 / 0 0 10 10 10 PARIS, TX 39 69 51 71 39 / 0 0 10 20 30 DENTON, TX 37 72 53 72 38 / 0 0 5 10 10 MCKINNEY, TX 37 71 54 71 38 / 0 0 5 10 10 DALLAS, TX 41 72 56 73 40 / 0 0 5 10 10 TERRELL, TX 40 72 54 72 40 / 0 0 5 20 20 CORSICANA, TX 40 74 55 74 42 / 0 0 10 20 20 TEMPLE, TX 40 76 57 75 42 / 0 0 10 10 10 MINERAL WELLS, TX 37 74 52 72 37 / 0 0 5 5 5 && .FWD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 75/
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 253 PM CST MON DEC 17 2012 TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-181215- 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- 253 PM CST MON DEC 17 2012 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...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL BECOME ELEVATED DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS TUESDAY...THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. EXTREME FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY...MAINLY WEST OF A BOWIE TO COMANCHE LINE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
According to the U.S. drought monitor, D2/severe drought conditions developed over the northwestern half of the county by December 18 and remained in place through the end of the month.
According to the U.S. drought monitor, D2/severe drought conditions developed over the northwestern half of the county by December 18 and remained in place through the end of the month.
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, December 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: 423951, 423952.