Drought conditions continued to plague north Texas during the month of April, especially over the western half of the region. Fortunately, most locations experienced at least some improvement due to beneficial rains during the first half of the month, even though rainfall totals in general remained below normal for April.
Every event with a place to put it; 35 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 plague north Texas during the month of April, especially over the western half of the region. Fortunately, most locations experienced at least some improvement due to beneficial rains during the first half of the month, even though rainfall totals in general remained below normal for April.
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 Mar 31, 10:36 PM CST, 1 hour 24 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 1136 PM CDT SUN MAR 31 2013 .AVIATION... /06Z TAF ISSUANCE/ CONCERNS...MVFR CIGS AND FOG AT WACO OVERNIGHT INTO MONDAY MORNING. VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH THE TAF PERIOD AT THE DFW AIRPORTS. LIGHT NORTHEAST TO EAST WINDS OVERNIGHT WILL BECOME MORE EAST-SOUTHEASTERLY ON MONDAY WITH SPEEDS GENERALLY LESS THAN 10 KTS. LATE MONDAY NIGHT...CIGS COULD LOWER BETWEEN 1-2 KFT WITH SHOWERS APPROACHING FROM THE WEST. THERE IS A SMALL CHANCE SOME FOG COULD DEVELOP CLOSER TO DAYBREAK AND REDUCE VISIBILITIES TO 5-6 SM. FOR KACT...THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR FOG AND MVFR CIGS TO AFFECT THE AIRPORT LATE TONIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING. HIGHER CONFIDENCE EXISTS WITH THE FOG POTENTIAL BUT SEVERAL OF THE MODELS SUGGEST CIGS AROUND 1500 FEET WILL MOVE OVER THE AIRPORT DURING THE MONDAY MORNING HOURS. CONDITIONS WILL IMPROVE BY MIDDAY WITH A SOUTHEAST WIND LESS THAN 10 KTS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE PERIOD. 82/JLD && .UPDATE... A QUIET NIGHT IS IN STORE FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL TEXAS BUT SOME FOG IS POSSIBLE SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 20 DURING THE LATE NIGHT AND EARLY MORNING HOURS. WIDESPREAD DENSE FOG IS NOT EXPECTED THUS NO ADVISORIES WILL BE ISSUED AT THIS TIME. THE COLD FRONT HAS BARELY CLEARED THE SOUTHERN REACHES OF OUR CWA WITH LIGHT NORTHEAST WINDS OR CALM WINDS ESTABLISHED ACROSS THE REGION. THE FRONT WILL REMAIN SOUTH OF THE REGION BUT ALL OF THE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE HAS NOT BEEN SCOURED OUT ACROSS THE REGION. UPPER 50S DEWPOINTS WILL REMAIN ACROSS THE SOUTHERN AND SOUTHWESTERN COUNTIES OF THE REGION OVERNIGHT. AS TEMPERATURES FALL AND THE WINDS REMAIN NEARLY CALM...FOG WILL LIKELY DEVELOP IN THESE AREAS AND POSSIBLY A LITTLE FARTHER NORTH. OVERALL THE FORECAST WAS IN GOOD SHAPE AND ASIDE FROM ADDING THE MENTION OF FOG...ALSO INCREASED SKY COVER ACROSS THE SOUTHERN THIRD OF THE REGION WHERE LOW CLOUDS WILL LIKELY SPREAD WEST THROUGH THE NIGHT. 82/JLD && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 315 PM CDT SUN MAR 31 2013/ TODAYS COLD FRONT WAS LOCATED ALONG A LINE FROM NEAR CLARKSVILLE TO ATHENS...TEMPLE AND BURNET WITH CONVECTION FROM LAMPASAS TO FRANKLIN AND SOUTHWARD. WITH THIS PACKAGE WE WILL LIKELY CANCEL THE WATCH OVER THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES AS THE MOST INTENSE ACTIVITY IS OCCURRING FARTHER TO THE SOUTH. FOR TONIGHT...WILL LINGER SOME LOW POPS OVER THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES IN THE EARLY EVENING. OTHERWISE...IT WILL BE DRY AREAWIDE AND COOLER FOR MOST OF THE CWA. MONDAY WILL BE WARMER AS WINDS BECOMING MORE SOUTHEASTERLY AND HEIGHT RISES WITH WEAK RIDGING ALOFT. THE PERIOD FROM TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY WILL VERY INTERESTING AS AN UPPER TROUGH...NOW APPROACHING THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA COAST...MOVES THROUGH THE INTER-MOUNTAIN REGION AND THEN ACROSS OKLAHOMA. BEFORE THIS HAPPENS...SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE TO THE NORTH WILL SLIDE SOUTH AND SEND A ANOTHER COLD FRONT INTO THE AREA. ALL OF THIS HAPPENS AS A LEE-SIDE TROUGH DEEPENS ON MONDAY NIGHT FOLLOWED BY SURFACE CYCLOGENESIS OVER SOUTHWEST TEXAS ON TUESDAY WITH THE SURFACE LOW MOVING SOUTHEAST TOWARD THE TEXAS COAST. THIS PATTERN SETUP IS USUALLY ONE THAT PROVIDES NORTH AND CENTRAL TEXAS WITH A SIGNIFICANT ISENTROPIC RAINFALL EVENT THAT CAN LAST UP TO 48 HOURS. INITIALLY...WE/LL START WITH CHANCE POPS OVER THE WEST ON MONDAY EVENING...THEN INCREASE POPS TO CATEGORICAL BY TUESDAY NIGHT WITH LIKELY POPS ON WEDNESDAY. SEVERAL THINGS POINT TO RAIN AMOUNTS THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT OF 1 TO 2 INCHES WITH ISOLATED TOTALS AROUND 3 INCHES. ONE) THIS WILL BE A LONG DURATION EVENT OF ISENTROPIC FEED UNDER AN UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE AND GOOD MID-LEVEL LAPSE RATES....AND 2) PWATS WILL INCREASE TO BETWEEN 1 AND 1.5 INCHES FROM TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. DUE TO THE FACT THAT SPRING VEGETATION IS GROWING AND 3 HOUR FLASH FLOOD GUIDANCE IS ABOUT 2 TO 3.7 INCHES FOR MOST COUNTIES...DO NOT SEE A BIG THREAT OF FLASH FLOODING. WE/LL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THIS POTENTIAL OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY SHOULD BE DRY WITH A RETURN OF WARMER TEMPERATURES. OUR NEXT WEATHER SYSTEM WILL BE A DEEP UPPER LOW OVER THE DESERT SOUTHWEST THE FIRST OF NEXT WEEK THAT COULD BRING ANOTHER ROUND OF RAINFALL TO THE REGION NEXT TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY. 75 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DALLAS-FT. WORTH, TX 52 80 55 64 49 / 5 5 20 60 80 WACO, TX 55 79 60 73 56 / 10 10 20 50 80 PARIS, TX 49 76 50 55 43 / 5 5 20 70 80 DENTON, TX 50 79 53 59 47 / 5 5 20 70 80 MCKINNEY, TX 50 77 53 59 48 / 5 5 20 70 80 DALLAS, TX 54 80 56 65 49 / 5 5 20 60 80 TERRELL, TX 53 78 56 66 50 / 5 5 20 60 80 CORSICANA, TX 56 80 60 73 54 / 5 10 10 50 80 TEMPLE, TX 58 80 61 74 58 / 10 10 10 40 80 MINERAL WELLS, TX 50 82 53 64 49 / 5 5 40 70 70 && .FWD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 05/82
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 934 PM CDT SUN MAR 31 2013 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- 934 PM CDT SUN MAR 31 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. THUNDERSTORM CHANCES RETURN ACROSS NORTH TEXAS LATE MONDAY NIGHT AND CONTINUE THROUGH WEDNESDAY. SEVERE WEATHER CHANCES ARE LOW DURING THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. 82/JLD
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
35 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Extreme/D3 drought conditions were in place over the majority of the county at the beginning of April. Conditions improved only slightly through the month, with D2/severe drought still plaguing the county at the month's end.
D2/severe drought was in place over Cooke County at the beginning of April. Conditions improved to D1/moderate status during the third week of April and remained as such through the end of the month.
Severe/D2 drought was ongoing at the beginning of April over Grayson county. Conditions improved by the end of week 3 and the county was classified as moderate/D1 during the final week of the month.
D2/severe drought in place at the beginning of April improved to D1/moderate during the third week, and conditions continued under moderate drought through the end of the month.
Exceptional/D4 drought conditions plagued Young County for the entire month of April 2013.
D3/extreme drought conditions were in place across the northwestern two-thirds of Jack County at the beginning of April, with D2/severe drought over the southeastern third of the county. Conditions remained as such through the end of the month.
D2/severe drought conditions were in place across the northwestern half of Wise County for all of April. D2/severe drought conditions spread to the rest of the county by the end of the month.
D2/severe drought affected the northern third of Denton County for the first, second and third weeks of April. Conditions briefly improved after some beneficial rain on the 18th and 19th, but D2/severe drought conditions had returned by the end of the month.
D2/severe drought affected most of Hunt County for the first, second and third weeks of April. Conditions improved to D1/moderate drought over all of the county for the final week of the month.
D2/severe drought affected all of Delta County for the first, second and third weeks of April. Conditions improved to D1/moderate drought over all of the county for the final week of the month.
D2/severe drought affected most of Hopkins County for the first, second and third weeks of April. Conditions improved to D1/moderate drought over all of the county for the last week of the month.
D2/severe drought affected most of Rockwall County for the first, second and third weeks of April. Conditions improved to D1/moderate drought over all of the county for the last week of the month.
D2/severe drought affected most of Rains County for the first, second and third weeks of April. Conditions improved to D1/moderate drought over all of the county for the last week of the month.
D3/extreme drought affected all but the southeastern corner of the county, where D2/severe drought condition were in place, for all of April 2013.
D3/extreme drought was in place over the northwestern third of the county for all of April. D2/severe drought affected the rest of the county. The southeastern third of the county improved to D1/moderate drought by the last week of the month.
D2/severe drought was in place over all of Parker County at the beginning of April. Conditions briefly improved after some beneficial rain on the 18th and 19th, but D2/severe drought conditions had returned to roughly the northern half of the county by the end of the month.
D2/severe drought affected the southern two-thirds of Tarrant County for the first, second and third weeks of April. Conditions improved to D1/moderate drought for the final week of the month.
Severe/D2 drought conditions affected roughly the southern third of Dallas County during the first, second and third weeks of April 2013. Conditions had improved to D1/moderate drought over all of the county by Apr 23 and remained as such through the end of the month.
D2/severe drought conditions covered the northern two-thirds of Kaufman County during the first, second and third weeks of April. Conditions improved to D1/moderate severity by April 23 and remained as such through the end of the month.
Drought conditions in the early part of the month ranged from D3/extreme conditions in the northern parts of the county to D2/severe conditions across the remainder of the county. After beneficial rainfall in the middle of the month, conditions overall improved across the county but D2 conditions persisted across the western half of the county.
Erath County was split between D2/severe drought over the northern half of the county and D3/extreme drought over the south during week one. All of Erath County was classified as Severe/D2 by April 9. By April 23, thanks to beneficial rainfall earlier in the month, all but the southern quarter of the county had improved to moderate/D1 severity.
Hood County improved from severe to extreme (D2-D3) drought at the beginning of the month to almost all moderate drought (D1) by April 23.
Extreme/D3 drought was in place over all of Somervell County at the beginning of April. Conditions improved to D2/severe drought by April 9 and remained as such through the end of the month.
Johnson County began April in extreme/D3 drought before improving to severe/D2 drought by April 9, likely a result of some beneficial rainfall during the first week of the month. Conditions improved to D1/moderate conditions over the majority of the county by the end of the month.
Severe/d2 drought was in place across Ellis County at the beginning of April. Conditions improved to moderate/d1 status by April 23 and remained as such through the end of the month.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, severe/d2 drought conditions were in place across Comanche County for the entire month of April.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, severe/d2 conditions were in place across Hamilton County for the entire month of April.
Extreme/d3 drought conditions were in place over Bosque County at the beginning of April. Conditions improved to severe/d2 status by April 23 and remained as such through the end of the month.
Drought conditions were felt mostly over the western two-thirds of Hill County in April, where d3/extreme drought was in place at the beginning of the month. Conditions improved to severe/d2 in this area by week 2 and remained as such through the end of the month. The eastern third of the county experienced d1/moderate drought for all of April.
Mills County was split between d2/severe drought across the northern half and d3/extreme drought across the southern half of the county at the beginning of April. The southern half of the county improved to d2/severe drought status by April 9. All of Mills County remained in d2/severe drought from April 9 through the end of the month.
Extreme/d3 drought conditions were in place over all but the extreme southwestern portions of the county, where severe/d2 conditions existed, for all of April 2013.
Coryell County experienced extreme/d3 drought conditions over the western two-thirds of the county and severe/d2 drought conditions over the eastern third of the county for all of April 2013.
Severe/d2 drought conditions were in place over all but the far western portions of the county, where extreme/d3 conditions existed, for all of April 2013.
Severe/d2 drought was felt over roughly the western third of McLennan County in April 2013. Moderate/d1 drought existed over the rest of the county.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, severe/d2 drought conditions were in place over the southern two-thirds of Milam County, with moderate/d1 conditions over the northern third of the county, for all of April 2013.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, April 2013
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: 442594, 443331, 443332, 443333, 444103, 444111, 444115, 444119, 444127, 444128, 444129, 444130, 444132, 444140, 444141, 444142, 444143, 444144, 444180, 444208, 444209, 444210, 444211, 444367, 444504, 444507, 444508, 444511, 444512, 444514, 444515, 444516, 444517, 444519, 444520.