Drought conditions continued to improve across the southern areas of North Texas during the month of February. Only Bell County remained in extreme drought (D3) at the end of the month, and only 8 counties remained in drought conditions.
Every event with a place to put it; 11 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.
Drought conditions continued to improve across the southern areas of North Texas during the month of February. Only Bell County remained in extreme drought (D3) at the end of the month, and only 8 counties remained in drought conditions. Local lakes and reservoirs continued to improve, but many local municipalities continued water restrictions due to concerns of another below normal rainfall in the summer months.
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 Jan 31, 11:30 PM CST, 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 1130 PM CST TUE JAN 31 2012 .UPDATE... PATCHY FOG IS POSSIBLE AS SOUTH WINDS REMAIN BELOW 10 KTS AHEAD OF STALLED WEAK LOW PRESSURE/FRONTAL BOUNDARY DRAPED FROM CISCO...TO GAINESVILLE. WILL INTRODUCE PATCHY DENSE FOG ACROSS THOSE AREAS SOUTHEAST OF AN EMORY...CORSICANA...CAMERON LINE WHERE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE IS MORE RICH. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT PARTS OF THIS AREA MAY NEED TO BE INCLUDED IN A DENSE FOG ADVISORY ON THE EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING PACKAGE...BUT RIGHT NOW CONFIDENCE ON THE WHERE/WHEN IS NOT FULLY CERTAIN AND WILL LET OVERNIGHT CREW DECIDE. OTHERWISE NO CHANGES TO REST OF THE FORECAST. 05/ && .AVIATION... VLIFR CIGS REMAIN WELL EAST OF TAF SITES AND WITH SOUTHWESTERLY COMPONENT TO THE LOW LEVEL FLOW...CONFIDENCE OF IFR CIGS AFFECTING TAF SITES IS BECOMING LESS AND LESS. THINK WACO WILL HAVE THE BEST CHANCES FOR RESTRICTED CEILINGS AND WILL SHOW LOW MVFR CONDITIONS THERE DURING THE LATE OVERNIGHT AND MORNING PERIOD. WE ARE STARTING TO SEE SOME SHALLOW GROUND FOG ACROSS GRASSY AREAS OUTSIDE OF OUR OFFICE. CURRENT THINKING IS THIS SHOULD REMAIN SHALLOW AND NOT HAVE A MAJOR IMPACT OF TAF SITES...BUT THIS BEARS WATCHING. OTHERWISE...LOW CLOUDS AT WACO SHOULD LIFT BY NOON AND A NORTH WIND IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE TAF SITES TOMORROW EVENING. 85/NH && .PREV UPDATE... .UPDATE... NO UPDATES PLANNED WITH CURRENT FORECAST IN GOOD SHAPE. WEAK COLD FRONT WILL STALL ACROSS FAR NORTHWEST COUNTIES OVERNIGHT AND THIS IS WHERE LOW WILL FALL INTO THE 40S...WITH 50S TO LOWER 60S ELSEWHERE. WINDS WILL BE SOUTH AROUND 10 MPH AHEAD OF THE FRONT WHILE NORTH-NORTHWEST 5 TO 10 MPH. LOW CLOUDINESS ACROSS SOUTHEAST PARTS OF NORTH TEXAS WILL SPREAD RAPIDLY NORTHWEST ACROSS MOST OF THE AREA BEFORE DAYBREAK. MOST OF THE SHOWER ACTIVITY SHOULD REMAIN SOUTHEAST OF THE CWA...THOUGH A ROGUE SHOWER OR TWO CAN'T BE RULED ACROSS THE AREA BEFORE SUNRISE. 05/ && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 337 PM CST TUE JAN 31 2012/ A WEAK COLD FRONT EXTENDING FROM NORTHWEST TEXAS INTO THE SOUTHERN PLAINS WILL APPROACH THE AREA FROM THE NORTH DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS. AHEAD OF THE FRONT...WARM SOUTHWEST FLOW AT THE SURFACE COMBINED WITH PLENTIFUL SUNSHINE HAS ALLOWED TEMPERATURES TO CLIMB UP INTO THE 70S ACROSS MUCH OF NORTH TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON. LOW CLOUDS HAVE LINGERED OVER THE EASTERN THIRD OF THE FORECAST AREA WHERE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE IS MORE ABUNDANT. ADDITIONAL SHOWERS ASSOCIATED WITH THE WEAK ENERGY THAT MOVED THROUGH EARLIER SHOULD REMAIN EAST AND SOUTHEAST OF THE REGION THIS EVENING. FOR TOMORROW...ANOTHER SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL PROPAGATE EAST TOWARDS THE STATE AND MOVE ACROSS THE AREA AS THE COLD FRONT IS PRESSING IN FROM THE NORTH. LARGE SCALE FORCING FOR WIDESPREAD PRECIP IS NOT EXPECTED WITH THIS SYSTEM. HOWEVER...MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ISOLATED STORMS LATE MORNING THROUGH THE AFTERNOON HOURS. THE BEST CHANCES WILL BE EAST OF THE I-35 CORRIDOR. 12Z NAM APPEARS TO BE ONE OF THE MORE AGGRESSIVE MODELS WITH RESPECT TO CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT TOMORROW...WITH CAPES PROGGED ABOVE 1000 J/KG OVER THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE AREA. CANNOT RULE OUT AN ISOLATED SEVERE STORM IF INSTABILITY BECOMES AS HIGH AS ADVERTISED BY THE NAM...WITH THE BEST POTENTIAL OVER THE SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST COUNTIES ALONG THE FRONT DURING PEAK HEATING IN THE AFTERNOON. AT THIS TIME THE FEELING IS THAT ACTIVITY SHOULD REMAIN ISOLATED AND TOMORROW/S POPS WILL BE KEPT LOW. AS THE AFOREMENTIONED SYSTEM MOVES QUICKLY EAST OF THE STATE...A STRONGER SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER THE WEST COAST AND DEEPEN AS IT PROGRESSES EAST INTO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS REGION. LEE SURFACE TROUGHING WILL DEVELOP TO OUR WEST ON THURSDAY AHEAD OF THIS FEATURE. AS THIS OCCURS...THE WEAK FRONT WILL BECOME DIFFUSE OVER OUR AREA AND MOIST SOUTHEAST LOW LEVEL FLOW WILL RETURN TO NORTH TEXAS. IMPRESSIVE UPPER LEVEL DIFFLUENCE DEVELOPS OVER THE AREA LATE THURSDAY AS THE UPPER TROUGH DIGS IN FROM THE WEST AND SHOWS SIGNS CLOSING OFF. LARGE SCALE ASCENT BEGINS LATE THURSDAY...AND SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD DEVELOP AND AFFECT MAINLY THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE REGION WHERE LIFT IS STRONGEST. ACTIVITY MAY BECOME MORE ORGANIZED FRIDAY MORNING AS A PACIFIC FRONT PUSHES IN FROM THE WEST...WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR A LINE OF STORMS TO DEVELOP AND PROGRESS SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE AREA FRIDAY IN SYNC WITH THE FRONT AND UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM. ENOUGH SHEAR AND INSTABILITY SHOULD BE PRESENT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FEW SEVERE STORMS...AND WE WILL KNOW MUCH MORE IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS AS WE GET CLOSER TO THE EVENT. ACTIVITY WILL COME TO AN END FRIDAY NIGHT...WITH COOLER AND DRIER WEATHER EXPECTED FOR THE WEEKEND BEHIND THE FRONT. 30 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DALLAS-FT. WORTH, TX 58 73 48 70 58 / 5 20 10 10 30 WACO, TX 59 74 48 71 59 / 5 20 10 10 20 PARIS, TX 53 70 48 66 54 / 5 20 10 10 30 DENTON, TX 52 72 42 68 57 / 5 20 10 10 30 MCKINNEY, TX 54 70 43 70 57 / 5 20 10 10 30 DALLAS, TX 58 73 49 70 58 / 5 20 10 10 30 TERRELL, TX 57 72 49 70 57 / 5 20 20 10 20 CORSICANA, TX 57 75 52 72 58 / 5 20 20 10 20 TEMPLE, TX 59 75 52 71 59 / 5 20 10 10 20 MINERAL WELLS, TX 52 71 40 69 55 / 5 10 10 10 40 && .FWD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 85/05
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 1136 PM CST TUE JAN 31 2012 TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-011200- 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- 1136 PM CST TUE JAN 31 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. PATCHY FOG CAN BE EXPECTED ALONG AND SOUTHEAST OF A GAINESVILLE... TO MINERAL WELLS...TO COMANCHE LINE. LOCALIZED DENSE FOG IS POSSIBLE SOUTHEAST OF AN EMORY...CORSICANA...HEARNE LINE OVERNIGHT. FOG MAY RESTRICT VISIBILITIES TO BELOW A MILE IN SPOTS ACROSS SOUTHEAST NORTH TEXAS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. PATCHY FOG CAN BE EXPECTED ALONG AND SOUTHEAST OF A GAINESVILLE... TO MINERAL WELLS...TO COMANCHE LINE THROUGH MID MORNING WEDNESDAY. LOCALIZED DENSE FOG WILL BE POSSIBLE SOUTHEAST OF AN EMORY...TO CORSICANA...TO HEARNE LINE. FOG MAY RESTRICT VISIBILITIES TO BELOW A MILE IN SPOTS ACROSS SOUTHEAST NORTH TEXAS. THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS ON WEDNESDAY. MORE WIDESPREAD THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY... WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. 05/
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
11 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
According to the US Drought Monitor, the county was classified as severe drought (D2) at the beginning of the month. The county received up to 3 inches of rainfall and was not classified in drought at the end of the month.
According to the US Drought Monitor, the county was classified as severe drought (D2) at the beginning of the month. The county received up to 3 inches of rainfall and was not classified in drought at the end of the month.
According to the US Drought Monitor, the county was classified as severe drought (D2) at the beginning of the month. The county received up to 5 inches of rainfall and was not classified in drought at the end of the month.
According to the US Drought Monitor, the county was classified as severe drought (D2) throughout the month. The county received up to 3 inches of rainfall but drought conditions did not improve.
According to the US Drought Monitor, the county was classified as severe drought (D2) throughout the month. The county received up to 3 inches of rainfall but drought conditions did not improve.
According to the US Drought Monitor, the county was classified as extreme drought (D3) at the beginning of the month. The county received up to 5 inches of rainfall and was classified as severe drought (D2) at the end of the month.
According to the US Drought Monitor, the county was classified as extreme drought (D3) at the beginning of the month. The county received up to 4 inches of rainfall and was classified as severe drought (D2) at the end of the month.
According to the US Drought Monitor, the county was classified as extreme drought (D3) at the beginning of the month. The county received up to 5 inches of rainfall and was classified as severe drought (D2) at the end of the month.
According to the US Drought Monitor, the county was classified as extreme drought (D3) at the beginning of the month. The county received up to 8 inches of rainfall and was classified as severe drought (D2) at the end of the month.
According to the US Drought Monitor, the county was classified as extreme drought (D3) at the beginning of the month. The county received up to 8 inches of rainfall and was classified as severe drought (D2) at the end of the month.
According to the US Drought Monitor, the county was classified as extreme drought (D3) throughout the month. The county received up to 4 inches of rainfall but drought conditions did not improve.
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, February 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: 364779, 364780, 364781, 364782, 364783, 364784, 364785, 364786, 364787, 364788, 364790.