Drought conditions were ongoing and worsened for locations of North Texas. Areas near the Red River and western portions of the County Warning Area began the month in severe drought and with little to no rainfall drought classifications were downgraded to extreme drought (D3).
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 were ongoing and worsened for locations of North Texas. Areas near the Red River and western portions of the County Warning Area began the month in severe drought and with little to no rainfall drought classifications were downgraded to extreme drought (D3).
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 Oct 31, 10:07 PM CST, 1 hour 53 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 1107 PM CDT WED OCT 31 2012 .AVIATION... A BEAUTIFUL CLOUD-FREE NIGHT IS ON TAP WITH VFR CONDITION EXPECTED AREA WIDE. CALM TO LIGHT AND VARIABLE WINDS WILL GRADUALLY INCREASE OUT OF THE SOUTH-SOUTHWEST AROUND SUNRISE...BUT SPEEDS SHOULD REMAIN BELOW 10 KT ON THURSDAY. VFR CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE INTO THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY...WITH MVFR STRATUS FINALLY MAKING A RETURN ON SATURDAY MORNING. 30 && .UPDATE... CLEAR AND MILD CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS NORTH TEXAS TONIGHT. HOWEVER...TEMPERATURES SHOULD STEADILY FALL OVERNIGHT DUE TO DRY AIR IN PLACE. EXPECT MORNING LOWS THURSDAY FROM THE MIDDLE 40S TO THE MIDDLE 50S. THE CURRENT FORECAST IS IN GOOD SHAPE SO NO UPDATE IS NEEDED AT THIS TIME. 79 && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 320 PM CDT WED OCT 31 2012/ A WEAK FRONTAL BOUNDARY IS NOW NEAR THE SOUTHERN EDGE OF THE CWA. ALTHOUGH SLIGHTLY DRIER AIR HAS FILTERED INTO NORTH TEXAS...THE WEAK NORTH WINDS AT THE SURFACE SHOW HOW LITTLE THERMAL GRADIENT REMAINS. THE DRY ADVECTION AND ABUNDANT SUNSHINE HAS ALLOWED TEMPERATURES TO EXCEED HIGHS FROM YESTERDAY. NEAR-CALM WINDS OVERNIGHT WILL ALLOW FOR EFFECTIVE RADIATIONAL COOLING...WITH TEMPS FALLING 30 TO 35 DEGREES BY MORNING. DEEP SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW WILL RETURN IN THE LOW LEVELS ON THURSDAY...AND AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES WILL BE A FEW DEGREES WARMER AS A RESULT. UNSEASONABLY WARM TEMPS WILL PERSIST AT THE TOP OF THE BOUNDARY LAYER...AND HIGHS MAY APPROACH 90 DEGREES ON FRIDAY. DESPITE CONSIDERABLE MODEL DISAGREEMENT WITH THE EVOLUTION OF THE UPPER LOW APPROACHING THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST...THERE IS A CONSENSUS WITH A FRONTAL PASSAGE LATE SATURDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT. STILL SOME CONCERNS ABOUT INHIBITION IN ADVANCE OF THE BOUNDARY AS CLOUDS LIMIT SURFACE TEMPERATURES SATURDAY AFTERNOON. REGARDLESS...THE MECHANICAL LIFTING OF THE BOUNDARY ALONE MAY BE SUFFICIENT FOR SOME SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...EVEN WITHOUT ANY UPPER SUPPORT. THE POST-FRONTAL UPGLIDE LOOKS NEGLIGIBLE...AND THE CLOUDS/PRECIP MAY EXIT ON SUNDAY. WILL MAINTAIN SLIGHT CHANCE POPS IN THE SOUTH INTO SUNDAY EVENING. THE TREND IS TOWARD STRONGER NORTHERLY FLOW ALOFT EARLY NEXT WEEK. BUT WITH THE MAIN THRUST OF COLD AIR INTO THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY...WILL CONTINUE WITH NEAR NORMAL TEMPS MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. 25 .../PREVIOUS AVIATION DISCUSSION/... CONCERNS...WIND SHIFTS. NW FLOW ALOFT CONTINUES TO KEEP NORTH TEXAS AIRPORTS DRY WITH JUST THE OCCASIONAL STREAK OF CI/CS MOVING SE ACROSS THE AREA. WEAK SURFACE TROF IS NOW PUSHING SOUTH OF I-20 WITH N/NW FLOW NEAR 6-9 KTS OCCURRING IN WAKE OF THE TROF ACROSS DFW METRO. A SHIFT TO N FLOW WILL LIKELY OCCUR AT WACO BY 20Z. OTHERWISE...VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY. LIGHT N FLOW THIS EVENING WILL SHIFT S/SW AROUND 5 KTS THURSDAY MORNING. 05/ && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DALLAS-FT. WORTH, TX 54 85 62 87 63 / 0 0 0 0 5 WACO, TX 51 85 60 86 61 / 0 0 0 0 5 PARIS, TX 49 81 57 85 59 / 0 0 0 0 10 DENTON, TX 49 85 59 87 61 / 0 0 0 0 5 MCKINNEY, TX 48 84 58 87 60 / 0 0 0 0 5 DALLAS, TX 55 85 63 87 64 / 0 0 0 0 5 TERRELL, TX 50 84 60 87 62 / 0 0 0 0 5 CORSICANA, TX 54 85 61 87 62 / 0 0 0 0 5 TEMPLE, TX 54 86 59 86 61 / 0 0 0 0 5 MINERAL WELLS, TX 50 86 57 86 58 / 0 0 0 0 5 && .FWD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 30/79
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 401 PM CDT WED OCT 31 2012 TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-011315- 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- 401 PM CDT WED OCT 31 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING. SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED...THOUGH GUSTY WINDS AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE WITH STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
11 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in severe drought (D2). With little to no rainfall throughout the month conditions worsened and by the end of the month the county was classified in extreme drought (D3).
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in severe drought (D2). With little to no rainfall throughout the month conditions worsened and by the end of the month the county was classified in extreme drought (D3).
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in severe drought (D2). With little to no rainfall throughout the month conditions worsened and by the end of the month the county was classified in extreme drought (D3).
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in severe drought (D2). With little to no rainfall throughout the month conditions worsened and by the end of the month the county was classified in extreme drought (D3).
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in severe drought (D2). With little to no rainfall throughout the month conditions worsened and by the end of the month the county was classified in extreme drought (D3).
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in severe drought (D2). With little to no rainfall throughout the month conditions worsened and by the end of the month the county was classified in extreme drought (D3).
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in severe drought (D2). With little to no rainfall throughout the month conditions worsened and by the end of the month the county was classified in extreme drought (D3).
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in severe drought (D2). With little to no rainfall throughout the month conditions worsened and by the end of the month the county was classified in extreme drought (D3).
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in severe drought (D2). With little to no rainfall throughout the month conditions worsened and by the end of the month the county was classified in extreme drought (D3).
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor severe drought (D2) persisted throughout the month.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor severe drought (D2) persisted throughout 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, November 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: 419739, 419740, 419741, 419742, 419743, 419744, 419745, 419746, 419747, 419748, 419749.