After some recent rainfall, conditions became extremely dry on the afternoon of Monday, May 13th. Low relative humidity and 10 to 20 mph winds allowed fires which started as controlled burns to quickly become uncontrolled.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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.
After some recent rainfall, conditions became extremely dry on the afternoon of Monday, May 13th. Low relative humidity and 10 to 20 mph winds allowed fires which started as controlled burns to quickly become uncontrolled.
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 May 13, 5:29 AM CST, 5 hours 31 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 629 AM CDT MON MAY 13 2013 .AVIATION... SOUTH/SOUTHWEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TODAY WITH SPEEDS INCREASING TO 10 TO 15 KNOTS THIS AFTERNOON. OTHERWISE...VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL WITH A FEW HIGH CLOUDS EXPECTED. HAMPSHIRE && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 356 AM CDT MON MAY 13 2013/ AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO BUILD OVER THE CENTRAL U.S. TODAY AND RESULT IN A MOSTLY SUNNY AND WARM DAY ACROSS NORTH TEXAS WITH AFTERNOON HIGHS MAINLY IN THE 80S. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL BE ON THE INCREASE ACROSS THE REGION TONIGHT AND TUESDAY AS SURFACE LOW PRESSURE DEEPENS ACROSS THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL PLAINS. THE INCREASE IN MOISTURE WILL BRING SOME EARLY MORNING LOW CLOUDS TO THE SOUTHERN ZONES TUESDAY AND KEEP LOW TEMPERATURES CLOSE TO SEASONAL NORMALS. THE UPPER LOW THAT HAS BEEN CUT OFF OVER MEXICO THE LAST FEW DAYS IS PROGGED TO OPEN UP AND LIFT NORTH NORTHEAST ACROSS TEXAS TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THERE WILL BE SOME LOW THUNDERSTORM CHANCES BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST ZONES WITH INCREASING RAIN/STORM CHANCES TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THERE WILL BE SOME DIRECTIONAL SHEAR AS THE SYSTEMS MOVES THROUGH BUT MARGINAL INSTABILITY AND WEAK MID/UPPER LEVEL FLOW SHOULD KEEP STORMS BELOW SEVERE LIMITS. PRECIPITATION CHANCES WILL DECREASE FROM WEST TO EAST WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING. HOWEVER...BOTH THE ECMWF AND AND GFS SOLUTIONS LINGER SOME PRECIP THROUGH THURSDAY IN THE EAST AND DEVELOP ADDITIONAL PRECIP ALONG THE RED RIVER AS A SECONDARY WEAK SHORT WAVE MOVES SOUTHEAST FROM THE CENTRAL HIGH PLAINS. ALTHOUGH THIS SOLUTION LOOKS A BIT QUESTIONABLE DUE TO EXPECTED SUBSIDENCE BEHIND THE FIRST EXITING UPPER TROUGH...WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE SOME THUNDERSTORMS MOVE SOUTHEAST OUT OF OKLAHOMA THURSDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING AND AFFECT THE RED RIVER COUNTIES OF NORTH TEXAS. ANY STORMS THE DO DEVELOP SHOULD EXIT THE REGION THURSDAY NIGHT/FRIDAY AS UPPER LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN FROM THE WEST. AN UPPER TROUGH WILL STRENGTHEN OVER THE WESTERN U.S THIS WEEKEND AND RESULT IN SURFACE LEE TROUGHING AND INCREASING WINDS ON SATURDAY. A DRY LINE SHOULD APPROACH THE WESTERN ZONES LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON WITH A FEW STORMS POSSIBLE THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING. THE UPPER TROUGH SHOULD MOVE ACROSS NORTH TEXAS ON SUNDAY AND ALLOW A WEAK COLD FRONT TO ENTER THE REGION. THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY...BUT WILL KEEP POPS LOW FOR NOW DUE TO UNCERTAINTY IN THE TIMING AND STRENGTH OF THE UPPER TROUGH AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT. OVERALL...THE WEATHER PATTERN IS BEGINNING TO LOOK MORE TYPICAL FOR MID MAY WITH PERSISTENT MOIST SOUTHERLY FLOW AT THE SURFACE AND MUCH OF THE UPPER LEVEL ENERGY REMAINING ACROSS THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE COUNTRY. 79 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DALLAS-FT. WORTH, TX 88 63 90 65 81 / 5 5 5 40 50 WACO, TX 87 59 87 67 80 / 5 5 10 40 40 PARIS, TX 83 58 86 63 76 / 5 5 5 20 50 DENTON, TX 88 62 89 66 79 / 5 5 5 30 50 MCKINNEY, TX 86 58 88 66 80 / 5 5 5 30 50 DALLAS, TX 87 65 88 66 79 / 5 5 5 40 50 TERRELL, TX 85 58 86 64 78 / 5 5 5 30 50 CORSICANA, TX 85 59 85 65 79 / 5 5 5 30 50 TEMPLE, TX 84 58 85 66 80 / 5 5 20 40 40 MINERAL WELLS, TX 89 57 89 64 83 / 5 5 5 40 40 && .FWD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 85/85
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 400 AM CDT MON MAY 13 2013 TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-140900- 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- 400 AM CDT MON MAY 13 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS ALL OF NORTH TEXAS TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY AND ACROSS THE RED RIVER COUNTIES THURSDAY. IN ADDITION...THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. HAMPSHIRE
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
Palo Pinto Volunteer Fire Department, and the Texas A&M Forest Service fought a 39 acre wildfire near Possum Kingdom Lake. Thirty homes were evacuated, but no structures were damaged in the fire.
Lometa Volunteer Fire Department fought and contained a 74 acre brush fire on Monday and Tuesday May 13-14. Ranch land was burned, but no structures caught fire.
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, May 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: 451786, 451785.