Texas, 2014

Drought in Texas, April 1 to 30, 2014

April 1 to 30, 2014 · NWS OUN · 8 events in 8 counties and zones

With little to no precipitation, drought conditions worsened over much of northern Texas. This was exacerbated by unseasonably warm conditions.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 8 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
8

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS OUN wrote it up.

With little to no precipitation, drought conditions worsened over much of northern Texas. This was exacerbated by unseasonably warm conditions.

What forecasters said that 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 Norman, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 31, 11:02 PM CST, 58 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 31, 11:02 PM CST, 58 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
1202 AM CDT TUE APR 1 2014

.DISCUSSION...
THE 06Z AVIATION DISCUSSION FOLLOWS....

&&

.AVIATION...
AN AREA OF CLOUDS WAS FORMING ALONG THE COLD FRONT AT 05Z. THIS
AREA OF CLOUDS IS EXPECTED GENERALLY TO EXPAND THROUGH THE NIGHT
AND MORNING. THE CEILINGS ARE LIKELY TO LOWER INTO THE MVFR
CATEGORY FOR MUCH OF THE DAY...EXCEPT IN W OK. A FEW PATCHES OF
ELEVATED SMOKE MAY REDUCE VISIBILITY AT LOWER FLIGHT
LEVELS...ESPECIALLY DOWNWIND OF THE LARGE FIRE SE OF KGAG. A FEW
TSRA WILL BE POSSIBLE THROUGH THE PERIOD...ESPECIALLY NEAR AND E
OF I-44...BUT CHANCES REMAIN TOO LOW FOR INCLUSION IN TAFS.

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 952 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2014/

DISCUSSION...
FRONT CONTINUES TO MOVE SLOWLY SWD THIS EVENING AND IS EXPECTED TO
STALL VICINITY OF THE RED RIVER LATE TONIGHT/EARLY TUESDAY.
SHOWERS/TSTMS HAVE REMAINED JUST EAST OF THE FA THROUGH THE
EVENING HOURS. STILL COULD SEE SOME DEVELOPMENT IN SE OK LATER
TONIGHT NEAR OR NORTH OF THE FRONT AND WILL LEAVE LOW POPS IN
PLACE. WILL MAKE SOME MINOR ADJUSTMENTS TO MIN TEMPS
TONIGHT...OTRW NO OTHER SIG CHANGES.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
OKLAHOMA CITY OK  50  71  60  80 /  10  20  20  30
HOBART OK         47  76  57  86 /  10  10  20  10
WICHITA FALLS TX  54  85  65  86 /  10  20  20  20
GAGE OK           36  70  46  81 /   0   0  10   0
PONCA CITY OK     42  64  55  77 /  10  10  40  30
DURANT OK         58  75  65  77 /  10  20  20  30

&&

.OUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OK...NONE.
TX...NONE.
&&

02/23/23
Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 31, 10:10 PM CST, 1 hour 50 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
1110 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2014

OKZ004>048-050>052-TXZ083>090-011200-
HARPER-WOODS-ALFALFA-GRANT-KAY-ELLIS-WOODWARD-MAJOR-GARFIELD-NOBLE-
ROGER MILLS-DEWEY-CUSTER-BLAINE-KINGFISHER-LOGAN-PAYNE-BECKHAM-
WASHITA-CADDO-CANADIAN-OKLAHOMA-LINCOLN-GRADY-MCCLAIN-CLEVELAND-
POTTAWATOMIE-SEMINOLE-HUGHES-HARMON-GREER-KIOWA-JACKSON-TILLMAN-
COMANCHE-STEPHENS-GARVIN-MURRAY-PONTOTOC-COAL-COTTON-JEFFERSON-
CARTER-JOHNSTON-ATOKA-LOVE-MARSHALL-BRYAN-HARDEMAN-FOARD-WILBARGER-
WICHITA-KNOX-BAYLOR-ARCHER-CLAY-
1110 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2014

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK COVERS NORTHERN...WESTERN...
CENTRAL...AND SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA...AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...REST OF TONIGHT...

THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...
A FEW THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP LATE TONIGHT ACROSS PARTS OF CENTRAL
AND SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA. IF STORMS DEVELOP...A FEW MAY BECOME STRONG WITH
HAIL...HOWEVER SEVERE STORMS ARE UNLIKELY.

DISCUSSION...
SOME LOW LEVEL LIFT COMBINED WITH ELEVATED INSTABILITY NEAR AND NORTH
OF A FRONT MAY ALLOW FOR A FEW THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP LATE TONIGHT.
HOWEVER...CAPPING WILL LIKELY BE TOO STRONG FOR STORM DEVELOPMENT.

PROBABILITY TABLE...
VALID THROUGH 700 AM CDT TUESDAY APR 1.
PROBABILITY OF THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRING IN THE
              NWS NORMAN COUNTY WARNING AREA...30 PERCENT.
PROBABILITY OF SEVERE STORMS IF STORMS OCCUR...10 PERCENT.

OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER...
NONE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...

THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...
A FRONT WILL SETTLE NEAR THE RED RIVER EARLY TUESDAY...SLOWLY LIFTING
NORTHWARD AS A WARM FRONT DURING THE DAY. A DRYLINE WILL DEVELOP FROM
SOUTHWEST OKLAHOMA INTO WESTERN NORTH TEXAS. THESE TWO BOUNDARIES MAY
PROMOTE ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON.
SHOULD STORMS DEVELOP...THE ENVIRONMENT WOULD BE SUPPORTIVE OF VERY
LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. ANY STORMS THAT DEVELOP LATE TUESDAY SHOULD
WEAKEN AFTER SUNSET.

THE SAME FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO LIFT TO THE NORTH WEDNESDAY...WITH
ADDITIONAL WARM FRONT AND DRYLINE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE FROM LATE AFTERNOON
THROUGH EARLY EVENING. WITH GREATER MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY IN PLACE...A
MORE ROBUST SEVERE WEATHER EPISODE MAY TAKE SHAPE. THOUGH ONLY A HANDFUL OF
STORMS MAY ACTUALLY OCCUR....VERY LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS WILL
ACCOMPANY ANY STORM THAT DEVELOPS...ALONG WITH A THREAT OF TORNADOES.
STORMS THAT MANAGE TO DEVELOP WILL ONCE AGAIN WEAKEN AFTER SUNSET.

BY THURSDAY...A POTENT UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM WILL NUDGE THE DRYLINE AND
FRONT EASTWARD...WITH THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE OVER MAINLY CENTRAL AND
EASTERN OKLAHOMA. GIVEN REMAINING MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY...THE CHANCE
FOR A FEW STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS WILL PERSIST.

THUNDERSTORM CHANCES WILL RETURN TO PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN
OKLAHOMA...AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...BUT SEVERE
STORMS APPEAR VERY UNLIKELY DURING THIS TIMEFRAME.

OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER...
VERY WARM TEMPERATURES...COUPLED WITH DRY AND WINDY CONDITIONS WILL LEAD
TO ELEVATED WILDFIRE POTENTIAL ON THURSDAY.

THE NEXT SCHEDULED HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED AROUND 5 AM
TUESDAY.

AUSTIN/30/MBS

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Archer

When
April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where
Archer forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
33.615, -98.688 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme (D3) to exceptional (D4) drought persisted through the month.

Drought, Baylor

When
April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where
Baylor forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
33.617, -99.213 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme (D3) to exceptional (D4) drought persisted through the month.

Drought, Foard

When
April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where
Foard forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
33.975, -99.778 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme (D3) to exceptional (D4) drought persisted through the month.

Drought, Hardeman

When
April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where
Hardeman forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
34.290, -99.746 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme (D3) to exceptional (D4) drought persisted through the month.

Drought, Knox

When
April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where
Knox forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
33.606, -99.741 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme (D3) to exceptional (D4) drought persisted through the month.

Drought, Wichita

When
April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where
Wichita forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
33.988, -98.704 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Exceptional (D4) drought persisted through the month.

Drought, Wilbarger

When
April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where
Wilbarger forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
34.081, -99.241 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Exceptional (D4) drought persisted through the month.

Drought, Clay

When
April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where
Clay forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
33.786, -98.208 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Severe (D2) to Extreme (D3) drought worsened, with extreme to exceptional (D4) drought covering the county by the end of the month.

What these are

Drought
A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Texas in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, April 2014

Sources

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: 511312, 511313, 511314, 511315, 511316, 511317, 511318, 511319.