Two homeless people in the city of Dallas died from hypothermia as temperatures plunged into the lower 20s and wind chills fell into the teens. A 50-year old woman and a 60-year old man were found in different locations of the city, but both were found outside.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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.
Two homeless people in the city of Dallas died from hypothermia as temperatures plunged into the lower 20s and wind chills fell into the teens. A 50-year old woman and a 60-year old man were found in different locations of the city, but both were found outside.
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 26, 5:46 AM CST, 2 hours 14 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 546 AM CST WED DEC 26 2012 .AVIATION... MVFR CEILINGS WILL LINGER IN WACO FOR THE NEXT HOUR. OTHERWISE...VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING AT ALL TAF SITES WITH INCREASING HIGH CLOUDS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. A NORTH TO NORTHWEST WIND WILL PREVAIL THIS MORNING BETWEEN 10 AND 14 KNOTS WITH SOME HIGHER GUSTS. WIND SPEEDS WILL SLOWLY DECREASE THIS AFTERNOON AND THE WIND WILL VEER AND BECOME EASTERLY THIS EVENING AND SOUTHEASTERLY BY SUNRISE THURSDAY. 79 && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 304 AM CST WED DEC 26 2012/ LINGERING CLOUDS BEHIND THE FRONT WILL DISSIPATE TODAY...BUT THE COMBINATION OF SNOW ON THE GROUND TO REFLECT SUNLIGHT AND A COLD AIR MASS WILL LIMIT THE HIGH TEMPERATURES TO AROUND FREEZING IN THE NORTH. EVEN WITH NO SNOW...TEMPERATURES IN THE SOUTH WILL ONLY REACH THE LOW 40S. TONIGHT WILL ALSO BE COLD...WITH 20S ALMOST EVERYWHERE...BUT THE WIND WILL BE MUCH LIGHTER SO APPARENT TEMPERATURES WILL FEEL ABOUT 15 DEGREES WARMER THAN THIS MORNING. THIS WEEK...GIVEN A COOL AIR MASS AND SOME REINFORCING COLD AIR...IT APPEARS THAT MUCH OF NORTH TEXAS WILL STAY BELOW CLIMATOLOGICAL AVERAGES/MEANS...SOMETHING THAT HAS NOT HAPPENED YET THIS WINTER. THE NEXT UPPER DISTURBANCE...MUCH WEAKER THAN THE LAST ONE...AND ACCOMPANYING COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH NORTH TEXAS ON FRIDAY. LIMITED MOISTURE RETURN WILL CONFINE RAIN TO THE EASTERN PORTIONS OF NORTH TEXAS. MUCAPE IS JUST ABOUT ZERO...SO DO NOT EXPECT THUNDER WITH THIS EVENT. OF INTEREST IN THE EXTENDED IS AN UPPER LOW THAT IS FORECAST TO CUTOFF OF THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA/NORTHERN BAJA COAST ON SUNDAY...PRODUCING SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT ACROSS TEXAS AND PUMPING PACIFIC MOISTURE OVER THE AREA AS WELL. ALTHOUGH THERE IS LITTLE CONFIDENCE IN THE TRACK OF THE UPPER LOW NEXT WEEK...IT APPEARS THAT WE HAVE A CHANCE OF ANOTHER DECENT RAIN EVENT FOR NEW YEARS EVE/DAY. GFS IS FASTER MOVING THE LOW...AND STARTS PRECIP ON MONDAY...WHILE THE ECMWF FAVORS TUESDAY. BOTH PRODUCE WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION AND HAVE ADDED LOW POPS TO MONDAY/TUESDAY TO COVER THIS EVOLVING EVENT. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DALLAS-FT. WORTH, TX 34 23 48 40 48 / 5 5 5 10 20 WACO, TX 39 25 51 42 58 / 5 5 5 10 20 PARIS, TX 34 23 42 37 47 / 10 5 5 10 40 DENTON, TX 32 21 47 37 46 / 5 5 5 10 20 MCKINNEY, TX 32 21 45 38 47 / 10 5 5 10 20 DALLAS, TX 34 24 48 41 49 / 5 5 5 10 20 TERRELL, TX 34 23 49 41 51 / 10 5 5 10 30 CORSICANA, TX 37 26 50 43 56 / 5 5 5 10 30 TEMPLE, TX 40 25 53 43 62 / 5 5 5 10 20 MINERAL WELLS, TX 35 21 50 35 46 / 5 5 5 10 10 && .FWD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 9 AM CST THIS MORNING FOR TXZ091>095-101>107-117>123. && 79/84
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 353 AM CST WED DEC 26 2012 TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-271000- 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- 353 AM CST WED DEC 26 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT THROUGH 9 AM FOR AREAS ALONG AND NORTH OF A JACKSBORO TO BURLESON TO CANTON LINE. ALTHOUGH THE SNOW HAS ENDED...ICY ROAD CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE TO BE A SIGNIFICANT HAZARD THROUGH THE MORNING DUE TO SUB-FREEZING TEMPERATURES. WIND CHILL VALUES WILL DIP INTO THE SINGLE DIGITS AND TEENS EARLY THIS MORNING BUT WILL INCREASE BY MID-MORNING AS TEMPERATURES WARM AND WIND SPEEDS DECREASE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
Two homeless people in the city of Dallas died from hypothermia as temperatures plunged into the lower 20s and wind chills fell into the teens. A 50-year old woman and a 60-year old man were found in different locations of the city, but both were found outside.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold/Wind Chill, Dallas | 2012-12-26 | 60 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
| Cold/Wind Chill, Dallas | 2012-12-26 | 50 | Female | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
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: 426371.