A potent upper level low pressure system and cold front resulted in isolated severe thunderstorms across Brown County and snow across the Big Country. A dusting of snow covered much of the Big Country while Throckmorton County reported about an inch.
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 SJT wrote it up.
A potent upper level low pressure system and cold front resulted in isolated severe thunderstorms across Brown County and snow across the Big Country. A dusting of snow covered much of the Big Country while Throckmorton County reported about an inch.
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 Dec 25, 3:34 AM CST, 1 hour 24 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 334 AM CST TUE DEC 25 2012 .SHORT TERM... THE COMBINATION OF STRONG WINDS AND SNOW WILL REDUCE VISIBILITIES AND MAKE TRAVEL DIFFICULT ACROSS THE NORTHERN BIG COUNTRY AFTER 9 AM. STRONG WINDS AND FREEZING TEMPERATURES WILL ALSO RESULT IN WIND CHILL VALUES LOWERING INTO THE SINGLE DIGITS BY EARLY EVENING. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THROCKMORTON TODAY FOR 1-3 INCHES OF SNOW...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED SHORTLY FOR HASKELL...JONES...AND SHACKELFORD COUNTIES FOR 1 TO 2 INCHES OF SNOW. A WIND ADVISORY IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR STRONG NORTH WINDS. LATEST RUC MODEL IS SHOWING THE BEST SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS ACROSS THROCKMORTON COUNTY...AND THIS COUNTY WILL BE HAVE TO BE WATCHED CLOSELY FOR A POSSIBLE UPGRADE TO WINTER STORM WARNING IF SNOWFALL TOTALS ARE EXPECTED TO EXCEED 4 INCHES. AS THE UPPER LEVEL LOW DIGS A LITTLE FURTHER SOUTH...IT SHOULD TRACK SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE NORTHERN BIG COUNTRY TODAY. THE BEST CHANCE FOR SNOW WILL BE FROM 9AM THROUGH 6PM WHEN TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO PLUNGE BELOW FREEZING AND SOUNDINGS PROG THE BEST SNOW POTENTIAL. THE NORTHERN BIG COUNTRY...MAINLY FROM ROTAN TO ALBANY AND NORTH IS THE AREA THAT HAS THE BEST CHANCE OF RECEIVING SNOW TODAY SINCE THIS REGION IS LOCATED TO THE NORTHWEST OF THE SURFACE LOW THAT WILL TRACK FROM FAR WEST TEXAS...TO CENTRAL TEXAS AND THEN INTO SOUTHEAST TEXAS TODAY. COULD SEE LIGHT SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS FROM A DUSTING TO LESS THAN AN INCH ALONG THE I20 CORRIDOR COMMUNITIES OF SWEETWATER...ABILENE AND BAIRD. A FEW SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE THIS MORNING ACROSS MOST OF THE AREA IN THE WARM AIR ADVECTION IN ADVANCE OF THE UPPER LOW. A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE ACROSS THE EASTERN COUNTIES. THE SNOW SHOULD END BY 6PM AS THE UPPER LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM DEPARTS. AS SKIES CLEAR TONIGHT...LOW TEMPERATURES WILL DROP OFF QUICKLY ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE SNOW COVERED FIELDS OF THE NORTHERN BIG COUNTRY. 26 .LONG TERM... UPPER RIDGE WILL BUILD OVER THE FORECAST AREA IN THE WAKE OF THE DEPARTING UPPER LOW...THEN QUICKLY BACK TO THE SOUTHWEST BY THURSDAY IN RESPONSE TO A DEVELOPING UPPER LOW OVER THE SOUTHWEST. COLD POSTFRONTAL HIGHS ON WEDNESDAY WILL ONLY BE IN THE LOW TO MID 30S OVER THE BIG COUNTRY WITH UPPER 30S TO MID 40S SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 20. AFTER ANOTHER COLD MORNING ON THURSDAY WITH LOWS IN THE MID TEENS TO THE LOWER 20S...WILL SEE AFTERNOON HIGHS ON THURSDAY IN THE LOWER TO UPPER 50S. BOTH ECMWF AND GFS MOVE THE NEXT UPPER LOW OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS BY LATE THURSDAY...PUSHING THE NEXT COLD FRONT THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA DURING THE DAY ON FRIDAY. A SERIES OF FRONTAL PASSAGES INTO THE BEGINNING OF THE COMING WEEK WILL KEEP AFTERNOON HIGHS AT OR BELOW SEASONAL NORMS. AS WE APPROACH THE NEW YEAR...THINGS GET A LITTLE COMPLICATED. THE GFS ENSEMBLE IS CHAOTIC WITH THE PREFERRED SOLUTION ELUDING TO A CLOSED LOW OVER THE BAJA MONDAY THROUGH MID-WEEK. THIS SCENARIO INTRODUCES RAINFALL OVER THE FORECAST AREA EARLY MONDAY AND KEEPS A CHANCE OF RAINFALL THROUGH MID-WEEK AS A SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT CONTINUES OVER THE AREA. THE ECMWF OPENS AN UPPER TROUGH OVER THE BAJA EARLY MONDAY AND THEN CLOSES AN UPPER LOW OVER THE BAJA ON TUESDAY...WITH THE BEST CHANCE OF RAINFALL OVER OUR AREA LATE TUESDAY. WILL GO WITH THE GFS WHICH INTRODUCES MOISTURE OVER THE CWA DURING THE DAY ON MONDAY. WILL KEEP MOISTURE OVER THE AREA THROUGH THE END OF THE EXTENDED AS BOTH MODELS SHOW PRECIP ON TUESDAY. WITH KEEP PRECIP TYPE LIGHT RAIN AT THIS TIME BUT AS WILL GET FURTHER DOWN THE ROAD...THERE MAY BE A CHANCE FOR FROZEN PRECIP ENCROACHING ON NORTHWESTERN COUNTIES LATER INTO THE WEEK. 15 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... ABILENE 39 15 31 22 53 / 40 5 0 0 0 SAN ANGELO 48 18 41 23 58 / 30 0 0 0 0 JUNCTION 58 22 45 19 59 / 20 0 0 0 0 && .SJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 8 PM CST THIS EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: BROWN...CALLAHAN...COKE...COLEMAN... CONCHO...CROCKETT...FISHER...HASKELL...IRION...JONES...KIMBLE... MASON...MCCULLOCH...MENARD...NOLAN...RUNNELS...SAN SABA... SCHLEICHER...SHACKELFORD...STERLING...SUTTON...TAYLOR... THROCKMORTON...TOM GREEN. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 6 PM CST THIS EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: THROCKMORTON. && 15
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 918 PM CST MON DEC 24 2012 TXZ049-054-064>066-071>073-076>078-098-099-113-114-127-128-139- 140-154-155-168>170-260330- 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- 918 PM CST MON DEC 24 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE LATE TONIGHT EAST OF A THROCKMORTON...COLEMAN TO JUNCTION LINE. THE MAIN HAZARD WILL BE DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY SNOW WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE NORTHERN BIG COUNTRY LATE CHRISTMAS MORNING...AND CONTINUE THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS THROCKMORTON COUNTY. THE SNOW WILL COMBINE WITH STRONG NORTH WINDS TO GREATLY REDUCE VISIBILITIES. MUCH COLDER TEMPERATURES AND STRONG WINDS WITH GUSTS TO 45 MPH ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS ON CHRISTMAS. WINDS CHILLS WILL FALL INTO THE SINGLE DIGITS TUESDAY NIGHT. LOW WIND CHILLS COULD CAUSE FROSTBITE...DRESS IN LAYERS AND COVER YOUR HEAD...IF PLANNING TO BE OUTSIDE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX
456 AM CST TUE DEC 25 2012
TXZ066-072-073-139-251130-
RUNNELS TX-TOM GREEN TX-COLEMAN TX-CONCHO TX-
456 AM CST TUE DEC 25 2012
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 AM CST FOR
RUNNELS...TOM GREEN...COLEMAN AND CONCHO COUNTIES...
POTENTIAL STORM HAZARDS INCLUDE...
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING
GUSTY WINDS AND SMALL HAIL
AT 452 AM CST...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED OVER VERIBEST...OR
ABOUT 12 MILES EAST OF SAN ANGELO AND 5 MILES WEST OF LAKE IVIE...MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.
NUMEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING STRIKES ARE OCCURRING!
POTENTIAL STORM IMPACTS INCLUDE...
FIRE IGNITED BY LIGHTNING...
LOCALIZED SHORT DURATION POWER OUTAGES...
LIGHT LOOSE OBECTS TOPPLED...
ISOLATED SMALL VEHICLE DENTS...
MOVE INDOORS IMMEDIATELY! LIGHTNING IS ONE OF NATURES NUMBER ONE
KILLERS. REMEMBER...IF YOU CAN HEAR THUNDER...YOU ARE CLOSE ENOUGH TO
BE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.
* OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE ALERT INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO IVIE
RESERVOIR NEAR CONCHO PARK MARINA...BALLINGER LAKE...US-83 NEAR THE
CONCHO-RUNNELS COUNTY LINE...THE INTERSECTION OF RANCH ROAD 380 AND
RANCH ROAD 381...THE INTERSECTION OF US-83 AND RANCH ROAD 765...THE
INTERSECTION OF RANCH ROAD 1929 AND RANCH ROAD 2134...THE
INTERSECTION OF US-83 AND RANCH ROAD 1929...WALL...VOSS...VICK...
VERIBEST...VANCOURT...TALPA...SHIELDS...ROWENA...PAINT ROCK...
MOZELLE...MILES...MERETA...LOWAKE...LEADAY...HATCHEL...HARRIET...
GOULDBUSK...FISK...EOLA...BENOIT AND BALLINGER.
LAT...LON 3151 10048 3195 9984 3158 9936 3149 9957
3149 9960 3147 9961 3121 10022
TIME...MOT...LOC 1055Z 230DEG 36KT 3149 10023The Dyess AFB radar (KDYX), 70 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 10:59 UTC.
2 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 2 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Nickel sized hail with a few quarter sized hailstones were reported by a trained storm spotter.
Damaging thunderstorm winds blew down tree limbs that were twelve inches in diameter and about six feet long.
A large hearty twenty to thirty foot Oak Tree was completely uprooted.
An inch of snow was reported in Throckmorton.
An inch of snow was reported in Anson.
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: 426027, 426028, 426029, 426030, 426046, 431215.