A strong upper level disturbance and an arctic cold front brought periods of freezing rain, sleet and light snow to much of West Central Texas. Sleet was the dominant mode of frozen precipitation as a half to an inch of sleet was reported across much of the area along and north of Interstate 10 and east of a line from Robert Lee to Sonora.
Every event with a place to put it; 27 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 strong upper level disturbance and an arctic cold front brought periods of freezing rain, sleet and light snow to much of West Central Texas. Sleet was the dominant mode of frozen precipitation as a half to an inch of sleet was reported across much of the area along and north of Interstate 10 and east of a line from Robert Lee to Sonora. The icy roads and very cold temperatures resulted in the closing of schools, universities and colleges. City state and federal offices also closed for the day.
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 5, 5:55 AM CST, 5 hours 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 555 AM CST THU DEC 5 2013 .AVIATION... /12Z TAFS/ expect mainly VFR conditions through much of today at the terminals. the only exception will be across the Heartland with MVFR CIGS at the KBBD terminal. The low levels will begin to saturate tonight and stratus will develop with MVFR CIGS at all the terminals. The combination of a very cold airmass and a strong upper level disturbance moving by will result in periods of freezing rain and sleet late this afternoon and tonight. The precipitation may start as rain at the KSOA and KJCT terminals between 00Z and 06Z Friday. 21 && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 430 AM CST THU DEC 5 2013/ SHORT TERM... Today through Friday Through noon Friday, were expecting a combination of sleet and freezing rain across West Central Texas. Models this cycle continue to indicate the best chance for this wintry precipitation will be overnight tonight. Meanwhile, a strong cold front will continue to push south across Texas today. Very cold air moving into our area will result in falling temperatures across most of West Central Texas today. Model forecast soundings continue to indicate a warm layer, centered around 750 mb, will persist through noon tomorrow across most of West Central Texas. The cold, nearly-saturated, layer just below this warm layer will remain below freezing overnight tonight across all of West central Texas. Thus, we continue to expect the main precipitation modes will be freezing rain or sleet tonight. In addition, the greatest accumulations of ice or sleet will be mainly across the big country, along and north of Interstate 20. Nevertheless, total accumulations of one quarter inch remain possible for Brown, Coleman, and Runnels counties so, well continue these counties in our Winter Storm Warning, beginning for them at 6 pm CST this evening. Also, I continue to be concerned with very cold and dangerous wind chill tonight, especially across the Big Country where the wind chill after midnight tonight will likely drop to near the zero mark. Huber Friday night through Saturday night Models this cycle end precipitation across West Central Texas around noon tomorrow. However, low-level moisture continues well into Saturday night, when another passing upper trough may provide lift to produce either freezing drizzle or light freezing rain Saturday and Saturday night. Whats more, the wind chill overnight Friday night will be even colder than tonight, especially across the Big Country, Concho Valley, and much of the Heartland. Huber LONG TERM... Sunday through Wednesday With most of my focus on the short term, I didnt spend much time on the long term. Dry conditions and a very-slow-to-warm forecast looks good through the middle of next week. Huber && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Abilene 31 20 25 11 20 / 60 80 30 10 10 San Angelo 42 24 31 19 29 / 50 80 20 10 10 Junction 52 26 33 25 36 / 40 80 30 10 10 && .SJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WARNING from Noon today to Noon CST Friday FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: Callahan...Fisher...Haskell...Jones...Nolan... Shackelford...Taylor...Throckmorton. WINTER STORM WARNING from 6 PM this evening to Noon CST Friday FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: Brown...Coleman...Runnels. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY from 6 PM this evening to Noon CST Friday FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: Coke...Concho...Crockett... Irion...Kimble...Mason...McCulloch...Menard...San Saba... Schleicher...Sterling...Sutton...Tom Green. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 355 AM CST THU DEC 5 2013 TXZ049-054-064>066-071>073-076>078-098-099-113-114-127-128-139- 140-154-155-168>170-061000- 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- 355 AM CST THU DEC 5 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A WINTRY MIX OF FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET WILL OCCUR ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. SIGNIFICANT ICE ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE BIG COUNTRY...NORTHERN HEARTLAND AND RUNNELS COUNTY... WITH LESS ACCUMULATIONS ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA. EXPECT HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS DUE TO THE WINTRY MIX. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF A WINTRY MIX FRIDAY MORNING...ENDING BY FRIDAY AFTERNOON. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
22 winter storm, 5 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
A total of one inch of sleet was reported in Roby at 9 AM on December 6th.
Law enforcement officials reported a tenth of an inch of freezing rain about 10 miles northwest of Sterling City.
U.S. Highway 87 from 5 miles northwest of Sterling City to the Glasscock County line was icy due to freezing rain and sleet. Law enforcement estimated about a tenth of an inch of ice accumulation at 2 PM.
A trained spotter in Haskell reported a total accumulation of 1 inch of sleet at 9 AM on the 6th of December.
A total sleet accumulation of one inch was reported at 9:30 AM on December 6th in Sweetwater.
The storm total sleet accumulation of 1.5 inches was reported by law enforcement in Albany.
One half inch of sleet was measured by a National Weather Service snowfall observer in Abilene. Total accumulation of 0.8 inches of sleet was reported at 6 AM.
A total accumulation of 1 inch of sleet and freezing rain was reported in Clyde as of 8 AM, December 6th. U.S. Highway 283 and many roads across the county were ice covered by layers of freezing rain and sleet.
The Sutton County Sheriff office reported sleet accumulation of up to one half inch around Sonora.
The sheriff's office reported between one quarter and just under one half inch of sleet on area roads at 12:10 AM. As of 10 AM on December 6th, a total of one inch of sleet was reported in Eldorado.
A trained spotter reported one half inch of sleet and ice accumulation along Highway 180 from the Fisher and Jones County line, east toward Anson.
A thin layer of ice from freezing rain with minor amounts of sleet were reported on road surfaces in Mertzon. Law enforcement estimated about a tenth of an inch of ice accumulation at 9 PM.
Very icy roads were reported along highways 163 and 67 north of Ozona due to freezing rain and sleet. Law enforcement official estimated about a tenth of an inch of ice accumulation at 4:50 PM.
A trained spotter reported a total accumulation of one inch of sleet as of 9 AM on December 6th in Throckmorton.
One half inch of sleet was reported in San Angelo covering the road at the intersection of Twin Mountain Road and Southwest Boulevard. The sleet cover was on top of the ice.
A National Weather Service employee reported one half inch of sleet 4 miles west south west of San Angelo.
Total sleet accumulation measured at the National Weather Service office in San Angelo was 1.5 inches.
One half inch of sleet was reported 4 miles southwest of San Angelo.
One quarter to one half inch of sleet was reported in Miles, with very dangerous driving conditions.
One inch of sleet was reported in Ballinger as of 9:45 AM on December 6th.
A Texas Department of Transportation employee reported sleet covering U.S. Highway 84, from Coleman to Brownwood. The sleet depth was estimated at one half inch and the total sleet accumulation was around 1.5 inches at 8 AM on December 6th.
The fire department reported a half inch of sleet in Bronte.
Law enforcement reported 1 to 2 inches of sleet on grassy areas and a half to one inch of sleet on roads in Eden.
Total sleet accumulation in Brownwood and across Brown County was around 1.5 inches.
One half inch of sleet was reported in Brady.
The sherrif's office reported a mixed accumulation of freezing rain and sleet. They estimated the thickness of the mixture at around a quarter of an inch at 12:13 AM in Menard.
The emergency manager reported one half inch of sleet 5 miles north of San Saba.
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, December 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: 490255, 491299, 491632, 490237, 490270, 490297, 490346, 490320, 490340, 490402, 490414, 491626, 491637, 490274, 490280, 490314, 490348, 490396, 490290, 490300, 490306, 490310, 490344, 491298, 490379, 491641, 490386.