February brought both sporadic and widespread winter precipitation to the Texas Panhandle, which lead to a one drought category improvement for most of the region. Exceptional (D4) drought affects Dallam County.
Every event with a place to put it; 16 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 AMA wrote it up.
February brought both sporadic and widespread winter precipitation to the Texas Panhandle, which lead to a one drought category improvement for most of the region. Exceptional (D4) drought affects Dallam County. Extreme (D3) drought affects most of the northern Texas Panhandle. Severe (D2) drought affects the southwestern Texas Panhandle while the southeastern corner has dropped below the severe drought rating.
The late February blizzard produced the majority of the total precipitation for the month. Amarillo recorded 2.53 inches of precipitation for February (1.97 inches above normal), Dalhart recorded 0.63 inches (0.23 inches above normal), and Borger recorded 2.24 inches of precipitation (1.62 inches above normal). Overall this month ranked as the 48th coldest and 8th wettest February on record for the Texas High Plains region.
Limited dormant fuels remain in prime condition for the spread of fires across the Panhandle despite the recent precipitation. However, the Keetch-Byram Drought Index showed continued improvement for the Texas Panhandle. Only Dallam and Hartley Counties remaining within the 600 to 800 range while the majority of the area stayed within the 400 to 600 range. The 200 to 400 range now encompasses the entirety of the southeastern corner of the Texas Panhandle. Countywide burn bans remain in effect for all of the Texas Panhandle except for Hansford, Sherman, Hutchinson, Oldham, Casron, Gray, Wheller, and Deaf Smith Counties.
The increased moisture during the month helped the growth of dryland winter wheat and native grazing fields. Irrigated fields showed average growth with minor supplemental watering. Rangeland and pastures across the Texas Panhandle have remained in poor to very poor condition. However cattle have been able to graze on the winter wheat crops that have greened from the recent precipitation as observed by the Texas Crop and Weather Report. The Palmer Drought Severity Index showed marginal improvement to Moderate Drought for the Texas High Plains.
Reservoirs and stream flows across the Panhandles have remained at below normal levels with only a minor rise due to the recent precipitation. The reservoirs of Palo Duro and Greenbelt Lake are both below 13 percent capacity with Lake Meredith below 1 percent capacity. Water watches for several public water systems persisted through February while voluntary to mandatory mild water restrictions have been enacted.
Economic losses due to the drought through February were estimated near $5 million (D2)/$10 million (D3)/$20 million (D4) a county, and were predominately the result for poor growth of winter wheat, heavy supplemental watering, and supplemental feed for cattle in pastures and rangeland.
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 Amarillo, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 31, 11:03 PM CST, 57 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 1103 PM CST THU JAN 31 2013 .AVIATION... 06Z TAF CYCLE DRY NORTHWESTERLY UPPER FLOW WILL ALLOW FOR VFR CONDITIONS WITH ONLY SOME SCATTERED TO BROKEN HIGH LEVEL CLOUDS THROUGH 06Z SATURDAY. SOUTHEAST TO SOUTH WINDS TONIGHT 5 TO 15 KNOTS WILL BECOME SOUTHERLY AND SOUTHWESTERLY AFTER AROUND 14Z TO 16Z FRIDAY 10 TO 20 KNOTS WITH SOME OCCASIONAL HIGHER GUSTS. A WEAK NEARLY STATIONARY FRONT WILL SLIDE THROUGH THE THREE TAF SITES BETWEEN 21Z FRIDAY AND 02Z SATURDAY WITH WINDS BECOMING MAINLY NORTHERLY AT LESS THAN 10 KNOTS. SCHNEIDER && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 537 PM CST THU JAN 31 2013/ AVIATION... 00Z TAF CYCLE NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT ACROSS THE PANHANDLES WILL MAINTAIN A DRY TAF FORECAST THROUGH 00Z SATURDAY. SUB-TROPICAL MOISTURE PUSHING NORTH AND EAST INTO THE TEXAS PANHANDLE THIS EVENING. SCATTERED TO BROKEN HIGH LEVEL CLOUDS CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH THE TAF PERIOD. NORTHEASTERLY AND EASTERLY WINDS 5 TO 15 KNOTS THIS EVENING WILL CONTINUE TO VEER AROUND TO THE SOUTH BY LATE TONIGHT...AND SOUTHWESTERLY FRIDAY. WINDS WILL INCREASE TO AROUND 10 TO 20 KNOTS WITH OCCASIONAL HIGHER GUSTS AFTER 14Z TO 16Z FRIDAY. WINDS WILL SHIFT TO NORTHERLY 5 TO 15 KNOTS AFTER A COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE THREE TAF SITES BY 00Z SATURDAY. SCHNEIDER PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 150 PM CST THU JAN 31 2013/ DISCUSSION... COLD FRONT WAS NOW PASSING SOUTH OF THE CANADIAN RIVER VALLEY AND IT SHOULD BE SOUTH OF THE CWA BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON. THIS FRONT WILL DISSIPATE OVERNIGHT AND SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL RETURN TO MUCH OF THE THE REGION ON FRIDAY AHEAD OF THE NEXT COLD FRONT WHICH MOVES THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. THE NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE TO SEND COLD FRONTS THROUGH THE REGION ABOUT EVERY OTHER DAY THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK BEFORE THE FLOW ALOFT BECOMES MORE ZONAL BY MID WEEK. TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO BE ABOVE NORMAL FOR THIS FORECAST AS THESE FRONTS WILL BASICALLY CLIP OUR AREA. NO PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME THROUGH THIS FORECAST. THERE IS A STORM SYSTEM THAT GETS ORGANIZED OVER THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN JUST BEYOND THIS FORECAST. RIGHT NOW THE MODELS ARE NOT IN AGREEMENT ON HOW THIS SYSTEM WILL EVOLVE. FIRE WEATHER... THE LOWEST RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES WILL GET DOW TO AROUND 20 PERCENT...ESPECIALLY IN THE WESTERN CWA EVERYDAY THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. HOWEVER...20 FOOT WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO STAY JUST BELOW 20 MPH. && .AMA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...NONE. OK...NONE. && 11/02
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 259 PM CST THU JAN 31 2013 OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-011200- CIMARRON-TEXAS-BEAVER-DALLAM-SHERMAN-HANSFORD-OCHILTREE-LIPSCOMB- HARTLEY-MOORE-HUTCHINSON-ROBERTS-HEMPHILL-OLDHAM-POTTER-CARSON- GRAY-WHEELER-DEAF SMITH-RANDALL-ARMSTRONG-DONLEY-COLLINGSWORTH- 259 PM CST THU JAN 31 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. GOEHRING
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
16 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Classified as exceptional drought.
Classified as extreme drought.
Classified as extreme drought.
Classified as extreme drought.
Classified as extreme drought.
Classified as extreme drought.
Classified as extreme drought.
Classified as extreme drought.
Classified as severe drought.
Classified as severe drought.
Classified as severe drought.
Classified as severe drought.
Classified as severe drought.
Classified as severe drought.
Classified as severe drought.
Classified as severe drought.
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, February 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: 437467, 437468, 437469, 437470, 437471, 437472, 437473, 437474, 437475, 437476, 437477, 437478, 437479, 437480, 437481, 437482.