The month of March is typically the fourth wettest month of the year, but totals across North Texas were about two inches below normal. This led to deteriorating drought conditions across the area with many counties ending the month in extreme drought (D3).
Every event with a place to put it; 18 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.
The month of March is typically the fourth wettest month of the year, but totals across North Texas were about two inches below normal. This led to deteriorating drought conditions across the area with many counties ending the month in extreme drought (D3). Lake levels continued to be well below full capacities with most municipalities under mandatory water restrictions.
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 Feb 28, 11:56 PM CST, 4 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 1156 PM CST FRI FEB 28 2014 .AVIATION... CONCERNS...POSSIBLE FOG/LOW CLOUDS 09Z WACO...11Z IN THE METROPLEX. A WEAK COLD FRONT MOVED TO NEAR/JUST SOUTH OF SULPHUR SPRINGS /KSLR/ TO DENTON /KDTO/ TO GRAHAM /KRPH/ AS OF 05Z. THIS BOUNDARY IS EXPECTED TO STALL NEAR OR JUST SOUTH OF THE 05Z POSITION OVERNIGHT BEFORE LIFTING BACK TO THE NORTH AS A WARM FRONT SATURDAY MORNING. WINDS HAVE BECOME SOUTHEAST AT 5 TO 10 KNOTS IN THE METROPLEX THEY MAY BACK A LITTLE MORE BEFORE DAYBREAK. WIND SPEEDS SHOULD BE LIGHT AND HAVE JUST SHOWN A VRB03KT AT 11Z... EVEN THOUGH A 07004KT IS POSSIBLE FOR A FEW HOURS AROUND DAYBREAK. HIGH RESOLUTION MODELS INDICATE SOME LOCALLY DENSE FOG MAY DEVELOP NEAR THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY. FOR NOW HAVE JUST PLACED 3 SM BR IN THE METROPLEX TAFS FOR THE 1100-1630Z PERIOD...THOUGH WE COULD SEE LESS THAN 1SM VISIBILITIES IF THE FRONT STALLS RIGHT ACROSS THE METROPLEX. THE FRONT WILL LIFT BACK NORTH MID TO LATE SATURDAY MORNING WITH VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED BY 17Z. AS THE AFOREMENTIONED FRONT LIFTS NORTHWARD...SOUTH WINDS OF 10-15 KNOTS ARE EXPECTED AND SOME 20 KNOT GUSTS ARE POSSIBLE DURING THE AFTERNOON. THE SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL BRING STRATUS NORTH INTO WACO BY 02Z SUNDAY AND INTO THE METROPLEX AROUND 04Z SUNDAY. OUTLOOK...THE VARIOUS COMPUTER MODELS CONTINUE TO HAVE PROBLEMS RESOLVING HOW QUICKLY THE COLD AIR WILL MOVE INTO THE REGION. AN ARCTIC COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP SOUTH SUNDAY MORNING...LIKELY MOVING INTO THE METROPLEX AROUND 12Z SUNDAY. WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE NORTH AT 15 TO 25 KNOTS...AND TEMPERATURES WILL PLUMMET FROM THE MID 50S AT 12Z TO NEAR OR JUST ABOVE FREEZING BY MID SUNDAY AFTERNOON /21Z/. RAIN IS EXPECTED ALONG AND JUST AHEAD OF THE FRONT...WITH AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM POSSIBLE. AS TEMPERATURES FALL BELOW FREEZING MID TO LATE AFTERNOON...THE PRECIPITATION SHOULD BE LESSENING...BUT SOME LIGHT FREEZING RAIN/FREEZING DRIZZLE MAY OCCUR. 58 && .UPDATE... QUIET WEATHER IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE REGION TONIGHT. THE SKIES ARE CLEAR EXCEPT FOR SOME LOW CLOUDS OVER THE FAR EASTERN COUNTIES AND ALSO IN THE NORTHEAST BEHIND A WEAK FRONT. THIS WEAK FRONT CROSSED THE RED RIVER EARLIER TODAY AND HAS STALLED ALONG A LINE FROM SULPHUR SPRINGS TO GRAHAM. EAST AND NORTHEAST WINDS ARE OCCURRING BEHIND THE FRONT WITH SOUTH WINDS TO THE SOUTH OF THE FRONT. TEMPERATURES BEHIND THE FRONT ARE IN THE UPPER 40S AND 50S WHILE TEMPERATURES SOUTH OF THE FRONT ARE MOSTLY IN THE 60S. THE FRONT WILL REMAIN STALLED NEAR ITS CURRENT LOCATION THROUGH THE NIGHT BEFORE RETREATING NORTH TOMORROW. THE FORECAST WAS IN GOOD SHAPE AND DID NOT MAKE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES. OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL RANGE FROM THE MID 40S IN THE NORTH TO UPPER 50S IN THE SOUTHEAST. SOME FOG WILL LIKELY DEVELOP AFTER MIDNIGHT ACROSS THE EASTERN THIRD OF THE REGION. 82/JLD && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 344 PM CST FRI FEB 28 2014/ THE DRYLINE WHICH REACHED THE INTERSTATE 35 CORRIDOR THIS AFTERNOON WILL RETREAT BACK TO THE WEST AFTER SUNSET AND RESULT IN THE RETURN OF SOUTHERLY WINDS TO NEARLY ALL OF NORTH TEXAS. THE ONLY EXCEPTION WILL BE ACROSS THE NORTHERN ZONES WHERE A LIGHT...MAINLY NORTH...WIND WILL PREVAIL BEHIND A WEAK FRONTAL BOUNDARY. THE COMBINATION OF INCREASING LOW LEVEL MOISTURE...A MOSTLY CLEAR SKY...AND A RELATIVELY LIGHT WIND WILL RESULT IN SOME PATCHY FOG OVERNIGHT AND SATURDAY MORNING...ESPECIALLY NEAR THE STALLED FRONT ACROSS THE NORTH. SATURDAY WILL BE A WARM AND SOMEWHAT HUMID DAY AS LOW LEVEL MOISTURE INCREASES IN RESPONSE TO A DEEPENING SURFACE TROUGH ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN WEST. AT THE SAME TIME...A RATHER IMPRESSIVE (1050 MB) SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE CENTER WILL BUILD SOUTHWARD ACROSS THE NORTHERN HIGH PLAINS...SENDING SHALLOW ARCTIC AIR INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS AND THE FRONT RANGE. NORMALLY WE WOULD EXPECT A COLD FRONT TO PUT ON THE BRAKES UNTIL THE UPPER TROUGH AXIS MOVES TO THE EAST. HOWEVER...SHALLOW ARCTIC AIR CAN PROPAGATE ON ITS OWN WEIGHT AND DOES NOT NEED UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT. THEREFORE...WE EXPECT THE ARCTIC AIR TO CONTINUE MOVING SOUTH INTO NORTH TEXAS SATURDAY NIGHT AND THROUGH THE ENTIRE CWA BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON... WELL AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING UPPER TROUGH. WE EXPECT SHOWERS TO DEVELOP ALONG AND BEHIND THE COLD FRONT ACROSS THE NORTHWEST ZONES OVERNIGHT SATURDAY WITH SHOWERS AND SOME THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY ALONG AND BEHIND THE COLD FRONT SUNDAY. THE BEST MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY WILL BE OVER THE SOUTHEAST ZONES AND A FEW STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE. DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL WILL BE THE PRIMARY SEVERE WEATHER THREAT. SINCE THE FRONT WILL BE FAST MOVING...THE WINDOW FOR SURFACE BASED STORMS ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT WILL BE SMALL. THE BIG QUESTION WITH REGARDS TO SUNDAY WILL BE HOW COLD IT WILL GET AND HOW MUCH PRECIPITATION WILL FALL BEHIND THE COLD FRONT. THE 12Z NAM SOLUTION HAD TEMPERATURES FALLING INTO THE TEENS AND TWENTIES ACROSS THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE REGION BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON. THIS WAS CONSIDERABLY COLDER THAN THE GFS AND ECMWF SOLUTIONS. HOWEVER...THE 18Z RUN OF THE NAM HAD WARMED THINGS UP A BIT...BUT WAS STILL THE COLDEST SOLUTION. USUALLY THE NAM DOES DO A BETTER JOB WITH ARCTIC AIR MASSES DUE TO BETTER LOW LEVEL RESOLUTION. BASED ON CURRENT SURFACE OBS ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS...WE DO FAVOR A COLD SOLUTION...BUT WILL NOT BE QUITE AS AGGRESSIVE WITH TEMPS ON SUNDAY AS THE NAM. THEREFORE...WE WILL BEGIN ALL PRECIP AS LIQUID EARLY SUNDAY MORNING WITH A POSSIBLE MIX OF RAIN AND FREEZING RAIN IN THE NORTHWEST ZONES JUST AFTER SUNRISE. BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON THE FREEZING LINE SHOULD BE NEAR A CISCO... DENTON..TO PARIS LINE AND SOME VERY LIGHT FREEZING RAIN OR LIGHT DRIZZLE WILL BE POSSIBLE. ANY PRECIP THAT FALLS SHOULD BE LIGHT AND WILL MOST LIKELY NOT HAVE SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS. THERE IS STILL A CHANCE OF SOME LIGHT ICING...ESPECIALLY ON ELEVATED SURFACES. THE UPPER LEVEL SHORT WAVE WILL MOVE EAST OF THE REGION SUNDAY EVENING AND ALL PRECIPITATION WILL END. ANY RESIDUAL MOISTURE WILL MOST LIKELY BECOME FROZEN AS ALL OF NORTH TEXAS FALLS BELOW FREEZING OVERNIGHT. SINCE CLOUDS WILL REMAIN IN PLACE OVERNIGHT SUNDAY...LOWS SHOULD BE IN THE UPPER TEENS AND TWENTIES. MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT WILL BE UNSEASONABLY COOL WITH HIGHS IN THE 30S AND 40S AND LOWS IN THE 20S AND LOWER 30S. NORTH TEXAS WILL REMAIN IN WEST TO NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT MUCH OF NEXT WEEK AND SURFACE MOISTURE WILL REMAIN LARGELY CUT OFF. THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF SHOWERS ON TUESDAY AS A SHORT WAVE MOVES ACROSS THE REGION. HOWEVER...SINCE MOISTURE WILL BE LIMITED PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS WILL BE LIGHT. NEXT WEEK WILL SEE A SLOW WARMING TREND WITH TEMPERATURES WARMING TO NEAR OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE SEASONAL NORMALS BY NEXT WEEKEND 79 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DALLAS-FT. WORTH, TX 51 79 52 52 23 / 5 10 20 70 20 WACO, TX 48 83 63 63 26 / 5 10 20 70 20 PARIS, TX 44 72 50 50 22 / 5 10 20 80 20 DENTON, TX 45 77 47 47 20 / 5 10 30 70 20 MCKINNEY, TX 45 75 48 48 22 / 5 10 30 80 20 DALLAS, TX 52 80 53 53 24 / 5 10 20 70 20 TERRELL, TX 52 79 55 55 26 / 5 10 20 70 20 CORSICANA, TX 54 82 60 60 27 / 5 10 20 80 20 TEMPLE, TX 51 84 63 65 27 / 5 10 20 60 20 MINERAL WELLS, TX 46 79 50 50 21 / 5 10 20 70 20 && .FWD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 58/82
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 823 PM CST FRI FEB 28 2014 TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-011545- 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- 823 PM CST FRI FEB 28 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE OVER PARTS OF NORTH AND CENTRAL TEXAS ON SUNDAY. AREAS AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT COULD SEE SOME STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH DAMAGING WIND AND LARGE HAIL AS THE MAIN THREATS. LIGHT FREEZING RAIN AND LIGHT FREEZING DRIZZLE WILL BE POSSIBLE GENERALLY NORTHWEST COMANCHE TO HILLSBORO TO CANTON LINE ON SUNDAY AND SUNDAY EVENING. AREAS GENERALLY NORTH OF THE INTERSTATE 20 CORRIDOR SHOULD BECOME COLD ENOUGH FOR SOME ICE TO FORM ON BRIDGES AND OTHER ELEVATED SURFACES...AND ON SOME ROADWAYS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
18 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in extreme drought (D3). Less than an inch of rain fell throughout the month and the county remained in extreme drought.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in severe drought (D2). Only 1-2 inches of rain fell during the month and conditions deteriorated into extreme drought (D4) by the end of the month.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in severe drought (D2). About an inch of rain fell during the month and conditions deteriorated into extreme drought (D4) by the end of the month.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in severe drought (D2). About an inch of rain fell during the month and conditions deteriorated into extreme drought (D4) by the end of the month.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in severe drought (D2). About an inch of rain fell during the month and conditions deteriorated into extreme drought (D4) by the end of the month.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in severe drought (D2). About an inch of rain fell during the month and conditions deteriorated into extreme drought (D4) by the end of the month.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in severe drought (D2). About two inches of rain fell during the month and conditions deteriorated into extreme drought (D4) by the end of the month.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in severe drought (D2). Less than an inch of rain fell during the month and conditions deteriorated into extreme drought (D4) by the end of the month.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in severe drought (D2). Less than two inches of rain fell during the month and conditions deteriorated into extreme drought (D4) by the end of the month.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in severe drought (D2). Less than an inch of rain fell during the month and conditions deteriorated into extreme drought (D4) by the end of the month.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in severe drought (D2). Less than two inches of rain fell during the month and conditions remained the same at the end of the month.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in severe drought (D2). Less than two inches of rain fell during the month and conditions remained the same at the end of the month.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in severe drought (D2). Less than two inches of rain fell during the month and conditions remained the same at the end of the month.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in severe drought (D2). Less than two inches of rain fell during the month and conditions remained the same at the end of the month.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in severe drought (D2). Less than two inches of rain fell during the month and conditions remained the same at the end of the month.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in severe drought (D2). Less than two inches of rain fell during the month and conditions remained the same at the end of the month.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in severe drought (D2). Less than two inches of rain fell during the month and conditions remained the same at the end of the month.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor the county began the month in severe drought (D2). Less than two inches of rain fell during the month and conditions remained the same at the end of the month.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, March 2014
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: 507286, 507287, 507288, 507289, 507293, 507296, 507298, 507302, 507304, 507307, 507342, 507343, 507344, 507345, 507346, 507347, 507348, 507349.