Light freezing drizzle and some freezing rain fell across a large part of West Central Texas on February 28. This lead to icy roads and numerous accidents across the area.
Every event with a place to put it; 11 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.
Light freezing drizzle and some freezing rain fell across a large part of West Central Texas on February 28. This lead to icy roads and numerous accidents across the area.
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 Feb 27, 11:32 PM CST, 3 hours 37 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 1132 PM CST Fri Feb 27 2015 .AVIATION... /06Z TAFS/ West Central Texas terminals remain at IFR or LIFR conditions late this evening, with widespread freezing drizzle and fog. Low level jet of 40kts pretty much overhead this evening, so conditions will not improve before morning. As isentropic lift weakens on Saturday, may be able to get some areas up to low end MVFR by late morning or early afternoon. But thats about the best thats its going to be. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 1022 PM CST Fri Feb 27 2015/ DISCUSSION... Freezing drizzle/rain was widespread over West Central this evening. HRRR and NAM indicate the precipitation to continue and even to intensify through 6 AM, with a few hundredths inch of ice. With temperatures from the upper teens to mid 20s most roadways will or have developed a sheen of ice on them, and become extremely slick and dangerous. Freezing rain was put in the forecast tonight instead of freezing drizzle, as most areas are accumulating a few hundreths inch of ice. PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 713 PM CST Fri Feb 27 2015/ UPDATE... lowered lows tonight. &@ DISCUSSION... Made some adjustments to overnight lows, which were below current temperatures by a few degrees in the Big Country. Otherwise light snow continued in Big Country with freezing drizzle southward to I-10. Road conditions should continue to deteriorate overnight, with a winter weather advisory until noon for all of West Central Texas. PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 542 PM CST Fri Feb 27 2015/ AVIATION... /00Z TAFS/ Conditions will deteriorate again across West Central Texas terminals tonight, as widespread freezing drizzle and fog develops. All sites will go down to IFR and persist through the night. May start to see some improvement across the southern locations before noon on Saturday, but not enough to get them out of IFR. PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 404 PM CST Fri Feb 27 2015/ SHORT TERM... (Tonight and Saturday) Winter Weather Advisory now in effect for all of West Central Texas through noon Saturday... Snow has pretty much ended across the Big country this afternoon, with patchy light drizzle still affecting portions of the Concho Valley and Heartland. Temperatures remain in the lower 20s across the Big Country where snow covers the ground, while farther south, temperatures are mainly in the mid and upper 20s. Warm advection will increase considerably tonight, especially after midnight as a strong low level jet develops. This will result in freezing drizzle developing overnight, as warm air is lifted up and over the cold dome. May still see a little light snow across the Big Country this evening but little if any accumulation is expected. Light ice accumulations from freezing drizzle/freezing fog (generally 1/10 inch or less) will result in very hazardous travel conditions areawide tonight into Saturday morning. For this reason, a Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for all of West Central Texas through noon Saturday. Overnight lows will range from the lower 20s across the Big Country, to the upper 20s along the I-10 corridor. Should see temperatures finally warm above freezing by Saturday afternoon, with drizzle continuing. However, temperatures across the Big Country may struggle to get above freezing due to snow cover and current highs may be a bit too high across this area tomorrow afternoon. Kept a mention of light freezing drizzle or drizzle across this area into the afternoon hours for now. LONG TERM... (Sunday night through Tuesday night) There will be a chance of rain and mainly warmer temperatures early this week. The combination of upper level disturbances and low level southerly flow will bring a of showers and thunderstorms to the area. The best chance of thunderstorms(mainly east of a Abilene to San Angelo line) will be Tuesday and Tuesday night due to better mid level ascent...some elevated instability. The ECMWF and CMC models is indicating possible convection and the GFS is not indicating much of a convective signal. Will carry chance to slight chance POPS through Wednesday. Rainfall amounts will average 1/4 to 3/4 of an inch. Temperatures will be mainly warm with highs in the 50s and 60s Sunday. A cold front will move south to just south of the I-20 corridor Monday. Highs will range form the mid 40s across the northern Big Country to the mid 60s along the i-10 corridor. On Tuesday, West Central Texas will be in the warm sector, with highs 70 to 75. Lows will mainly be in the 40s and 50s. (Wednesday night through Friday) Another cold front will move through West Central Texas Wednesday, bringing colder temperatures and gusty north winds. There will still be a chance of showers Wednesday and Wednesday night. The GFS model is indicating much colder temperatures(850 MB -5 to -10) and some winter precipitation. The ECMWF is pretty cold too. Will not introduce winter precipitation and keep temperatures warmer then the numerical models. Highs Wednesday will be in the 40s and 50s, with 40s on Thursday. Again, temperatures may even be colder. Cold nights are in store Wednesday and Thursday with lows in the 20s. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Abilene 19 36 36 57 36 / 80 50 30 20 20 San Angelo 24 39 39 66 40 / 80 40 20 10 20 Junction 27 42 39 66 42 / 80 50 30 20 20 && .SJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY until Noon CST Saturday FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: Brown...Callahan...Coke...Coleman...Concho... Crockett...Fisher...Haskell...Irion...Jones...Kimble...Mason... McCulloch...Menard...Nolan...Runnels...San Saba...Schleicher... Shackelford...Sterling...Sutton...Taylor...Throckmorton...Tom Green. && 07
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 313 PM CST FRI FEB 27 2015 TXZ049-054-064>066-071>073-076>078-098-099-113-114-127-128-139- 140-154-155-168>170-282115- 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- 313 PM CST FRI FEB 27 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS INTO SATURDAY MORNING. FREEZING DRIZZLE WILL INCREASE ACROSS THE AREA THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT...ALONG WITH AREAS OF FREEZING FOG DEVELOPING AFTER MIDNIGHT. LIGHT ICE ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED...CREATING HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS ACROSS THE AREA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY FREEZING DRIZZLE AND AREAS OF FREEZING FOG IS EXPECTED SATURDAY MORNING. ADDITIONAL LIGHT ICE ACCUMULATIONS ARE POSSIBLE. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON FOR ALL OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
11 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
There were reports of ice covered roads across Kimble County due to freezing drizzle and travel was extremely difficult.
The Concho County Sheriff's office reported a quarter inch of ice on most surfaces due to freezing rain. The temperature remained below freezing through the day.
The Crockett County Sheriff's office reported some icy spots on area roads, especially on bridges and overpasses. They reported six accidents in the area.
The Sutton County Sheriff's office reported icy roads and several accidents across the county.
The Schleicher County Sheriff's office reported very icy roads across the county.
A glaze of ice remains on most roads and surfaces in San Angelo, creating hazardous travel conditions. The San Angelo Regional Airport was closed until 1 PM because of icy runways. The temperature remained below freezing through the day.
The Brown County Sheriff's office reported icy roads across the county with numerous accidents.
The Texas Department of Transportation and the Sterling County Sheriff's office reported numerous accidents on icy roads and highways, including a rollover on State Highway 158. The temperature remained below freezing through the day.
The Coke County Sheriff's office reported icy roads across much of the county as the temperature remained below freezing through the day.
The Mcculloch County Sheriff's office reported numerous accidents due to icy roads.
The Nolan County Sheriff's office reported numerous accidents across the county due to ice. They also reported five wrecks in just 10 minutes as the temperature remained below freezing through the day.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, February 2015
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: 563547, 563558, 563566, 563568, 563569, 563570, 563574, 563562, 563575, 563577, 563584.