After receiving little rainfall during the first half of the month, severe drought conditions affected parts of Central Texas beginning mid-January.
Every event with a place to put it; 6 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 receiving little rainfall during the first half of the month, severe drought conditions affected parts of Central Texas beginning mid-January.
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 Jan 20, 5:42 PM CST, 6 hours 18 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Fort Worth TX 542 PM CST Mon Jan 20 2020 .SHORT TERM... /NEW/ /Through Tuesday evening/ Southerly winds are beginning to return to North and Central Texas as a sprawling area of high pressure over much of the CONUS shifts east. Late afternoon surface analysis showed a 1044 mb high centered over Iowa, with another 1038 mb high centered over the Wyoming Basin. A stationary front extends from central Montana, through the Great Plains, forming a separation between Arctic air to the north, and polar air to the south. Aloft, a potent upper- level trough is approaching the West Coast, and will be our primary weather-maker through the next few days. Despite the return of southerly flow, winds are quite light. Additionally, temperatures upwind from us are in the 50s, so not expecting much in the way of warm air advection. The light winds, and mostly clear skies (aside from a few passing high cirrus clouds) should allow for excellent radiational cooling conditions. Lows tonight should easily drop into the 30s across the entire CWA, with a light freeze likely along the Red River. Tuesday will see increasing clouds ahead of the approaching upper-level trough. The combination of increasing clouds and only modest warm air advection will keep our highs in the 50s once again. The daytime period should remain dry however. As we head into Tuesday evening, rain chances will increase from west to east as large-scale ascent overspreads the region. The highest chances will be west of the I-35 corridor, but rain chances will continue to spread east later Tuesday night and into the day Wednesday (see long-term section below). Godwin && .LONG TERM... /Issued 215 PM CST Mon Jan 20 2020/ /Tuesday Night and Beyond/ Rain chances will ramp up fairly rapidly Tuesday evening due to strengthening lift associated with an approaching shortwave trough. POPs west of I-35 will increase from chance/slight chance to likely during the evening hours as a broad swath of rain showers develops. These showers will progress east across the I-35 corridor around midnight Tuesday night, then continue eastward across the eastern half of the forecast area during the overnight hours. Model sounding data supports a mix or even a brief changeover to snow for the far northeastern zones, including Paris, Sulphur Springs and surrounding locations, during the 2 AM to 8 AM time frame Wednesday morning. These couple of counties will be close to freezing at that time, and may see some minor accumulations of a half inch or less with minimal impacts expected. A rain-snow mix is possible with little or no accumulations as far west as the I-35 corridor, north of I-30, with cold rain expected elsewhere. This initial batch of precipitation will shove off to the east during the Wednesday morning hours along with the shortwave. However, any precipitation lull that occurs will be short-lived, as a second shortwave disturbance is progged to dig southeast across North Texas Wednesday afternoon. Additional showers will develop near or shortly after midday, generally along the Interstate 35 corridor. Locations to the west may see some additional rain, but moisture will have been scoured by the previous disturbance, keeping activity fairly isolated. Showers will similarly progress eastward across the eastern half of the region Wednesday afternoon and evening. Steeper lapse rates will accompany the second shortwave, allowing for the development of isolated thunderstorms embedded within a broader area of rain. A persistent warm advection regime during the day will likely prevent additional wintry precipitation Wednesday afternoon and evening. That being said, it will still remain quite cold and wet with temperatures staying in the 30s and 40s throughout the day. The disturbance and associated precipitation will exit to the east early Thursday. Rainfall totals late Tuesday through Thursday morning, though not completely certain, should range from roughly 1 to 2 inches across the eastern third of the region, to 0.5 to 1 inch along the Interstate 35 corridor, to less than half an inch across the western third. An upper low will then deepen over the Central Plains on Thursday, dropping southeast across Arkansas Thursday night, before turning eastward across the Mississippi Valley on Friday. A brief round of showers associated with wrap-around moisture will be possible across the northeast zones during the day Thursday, but most locations will remain dry. A surface low and attendant cold front will be in the process of pushing southeast through the region while the upper low is moving across Arkansas. The front should clear all counties by Thursday afternoon, ushering in a drier airmass Thursday night. This will set the stage for dry and seasonable weather as we head into the weekend. Temperatures will climb to slightly above-normal this weekend and early next week, as mid-level ridging settles overhead for days 5 through 8 of the forecast. 30 && .AVIATION... /NEW/ /00Z TAFs/ Concerns: Increasing cloud cover on Tuesday, but remaining VFR through the TAF period. RA chances increasing markedly just beyond TAF period. Winds remain very light across North and Central Texas, but should become more established out of the southeast during the next several hours. High cloud cover will begin to increase after 12Z Tuesday, with CIGs lowering gradually to around 10 kft by Tuesday evening. All TAF sites should remain VFR through the forecast period. Extended outlook: Just beyond the TAF period, RA chances will increase markedly after 06Z Wednesday. Periods of RA (with a few isolated TS) will be likely at all terminals all day Wednesday, and through much of Wednesday night. Expect reduced CIGs/vsby during this period. Godwin && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Dallas-Ft. Worth 36 52 MMM 48 44 / 0 0 80 80 80 Waco 35 54 MMM 51 45 / 0 0 80 70 90 Paris 30 46 MMM 40 38 / 0 0 60 80 90 Denton 31 50 MMM 47 43 / 0 0 90 70 70 McKinney 31 50 MMM 45 42 / 0 0 80 80 80 Dallas 35 52 MMM 48 44 / 0 0 80 80 80 Terrell 32 51 MMM 47 42 / 0 0 70 80 90 Corsicana 37 54 MMM 47 44 / 0 0 70 80 90 Temple 35 55 MMM 51 46 / 0 0 70 70 80 Mineral Wells 34 52 MMM 48 43 / 0 5 70 50 50 && .FWD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && 37/05
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Fort Worth TX 545 PM CST Mon Jan 20 2020 TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-211145- 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- 545 PM CST Mon Jan 20 2020 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for North and Central Texas. .DAY ONE...Tonight. No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday. There will be a risk for a light wintry mix near and northeast of a Sherman/Denison to Emory line overnight Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. Significant impacts to travel are not expected, but some minor accumulations of snow and/or sleet are possible. Isolated thunderstorms are possible Wednesday through Wednesday night. Cloud to ground lighting strikes are the main hazard. No severe weather is expected at this time. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Severe drought conditions affected parts of the county beginning mid-January.
Severe drought conditions affected northwest portions of the county beginning mid-January.
Severe drought conditions affected northern parts of the county beginning mid-January.
Severe drought conditions affected most of the county beginning mid-January.
Severe drought conditions affected southern parts of the county beginning mid-January.
Severe drought conditions affected southern parts of the county beginning mid-January.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, January 2020
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: 873172, 873173, 873174, 873175, 873176, 873177.