Severe drought conditions were experienced across parts of North and Central Texas but showed signs of improvement by the second week of September.
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 FWD wrote it up.
Severe drought conditions were experienced across parts of North and Central Texas but showed signs of improvement by the second week of September.
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 Aug 31, 6:01 PM CST, 5 hours 59 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Fort Worth TX 701 PM CDT Mon Aug 31 2020 .SHORT TERM... /NEW/ /Tonight through Tuesday Night/ Showers and thunderstorms have increased in coverage along a well defined cold front extending from near Midland to Vernon to Oklahoma City this evening. This activity should primarily remain across our far northwest counties and across parts of Oklahoma into the nighttime hours as mid level flow becomes a little more southwesterly. This should keep most of North and Central Texas precipitation free this evening. An axis of moderate instability is present from near Wichita Falls eastward along the Red River and across much of southern Oklahoma. To the south of this instability axis, low level moisture is a little less, but a strengthening low level jet should allow this to recover overnight. For the remainder of tonight, we'll have the highest PoPs off to our northwest through midnight. The latest runs of the HRRR actually keep the bulk of the convective activity across Oklahoma overnight, but with low level warm advection becoming maximized via the low level jet just north of I-20, I have to think that some of this convection will tend to build southward toward morning. So we'll continue the trend of showing increasing PoPs south of I-20 into early Tuesday morning. There will likely be a break in the convective activity as this initial complex weakens late tomorrow morning, but as an upstream shortwave digs into West Texas late tomorrow, additional showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop in the late afternoon/evening and move across North Texas overnight. Short term hazards... Heat Advisory... We'll address the Heat Advisory which currently runs through Tuesday evening across a good chunk of North and Central Texas. As of now we'll leave this unchanged, however, if it is more apparent that convection will continue southward through the morning hours, the northern portions of this advisory may be cancelled. To the south, it will still be quite hot and humid with highs in the mid/upper 90s and dewpoints in the mid 70s. Heat indices should easily exceed 105 degrees. Flooding Potential... Given the potential for deep convection to become locked onto a slow moving boundary overnight into Tuesday, the threat for localized flash flooding is increasing. We're already seeing nearly stationary storm motion off to the northwest. With an increasing low level jet overnight, the threat will quickly increase across parts of the Red River Valley. There is some potential for 3-6" of rain overnight with any storms that are slow moving. We'll issue a Flash Flood Watch for our Red River counties and include Young/Jack/Wise for now. This is basically everywhere north of the current Heat Advisory. This watch will also likely be modified to some degree over the next 24 hours. Severe Threat... The severe threat will primarily be this evening and tonight with convection tied to the front. Strong winds and hail will be the main threats. This threat will transition into a hydrologic threat late tonight through Tuesday. Dunn && .LONG TERM... /Issued 400 PM CDT Mon Aug 31 2020/ /Tuesday Night Through The Labor Day Weekend/ September is off to an active start as unsettled weather with increasing rain chances and temperatures near or below average for this time of year will punctuate the kick-off of meteorological fall. There are no significant chances to the long term forecast with this issuance. The best widespread rain chances continue to be Tuesday night through Wednesday across North Texas with more isolated/scattered activity across parts of Central and East Texas. Rain chances linger through the week as additional rounds of showers and thunderstorms remain possible into Labor Day weekend. An upper-level low will approach the Southern Plains from the Desert Southwest on Tuesday with west-southwest mid-level flow streaming across the state of Texas. Subtropical moisture transported by this southwest oriented flow will prime the region with precipitable water value in excess of 2", making heavy rain possible through the period. At the surface, a cold front will continue to move southward through the region late Tuesday and Wednesday. This boundary in addition to any remnant outflow boundaries lingering from the Monday night/Tuesday storms and large scale lift from the approaching shortwave should be sufficient for thunderstorms to develop across North and Central Texas. As this activity continues to move southeast into better moisture and instability, moderately deep layer shear may be sufficient for damaging winds and strong updrafts capable of hail. With ample moisture in place, all storms that develop will be efficient rain producers, with heavy rain likely which may lead to localized flash flooding issues and minor river flooding, especially in areas that received rainfall in the past few days. The heaviest rainfall is still forecast to fall along and north of the I-20 corridor where a widespread 2 to 4 inches of rain is possible with isolated accumulations of 5 to 6 inches possible through Wednesday night. The GFS continues to be more progressive with the trough axis advancing across the Southern Plains through the middle of the week. This would allow drier, post-frontal air to filter into the region bringing a premature end to rain and storm chances. The ECMWF continues to advertise a slower evolution with the trough axis stalling to the southwest of our CWA which would hold upper level support and moisture in place for storm chances to continue across the region into the holiday weekend. In the absence of any consensus among guidance, we will continue to favor the slower solution as recent runs of the GFS are trending somewhat slower. As mentioned in the short term discussion above, while the likelihood of a flood watch is increasing due to forecast potential for excessive rainfall we will postpone issuing a watch at this juncture. Regarding temperature through this period: While this system is not the deep push of cold air some of us are hoping for it will provide welcome relief from the excessive heat and humidity we have been muddling through recently. Expect cooler conditions with highs from the low to mid 80s along and near the Red River to the low to mid 90s in Central Texas. Lows will dip down into the 60s and 70s by early next week. 12 && .AVIATION... /NEW/ /00Z TAFs/ VFR will prevail through this evening, but increasing thunderstorm chances will occur later tonight through Tuesday along with widespread MVFR cigs overnight into Tuesday. A low level jet will transport moisture northward tonight resulting in MVFR cigs after midnight. Thunderstorms to the northwest should primarily ride along the Red River but will expand southward toward morning. We'll have VCTS by 11Z in the Metroplex with prevailing TS around 14Z. There will likely be a break in the shower/storm activity through afternoon before rain/storm chances increase again Tuesday evening/night. At Waco, VFR will prevail this evening with MVFR cigs overspreading the region tonight. Thunderstorm chances will begin to increase Tuesday afternoon and continue through Tuesday night. Dunn && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Dallas-Ft. Worth 80 96 76 88 74 / 40 60 70 70 40 Waco 80 100 77 93 75 / 20 30 40 50 30 Paris 75 87 73 82 71 / 70 70 70 80 40 Denton 78 93 74 86 72 / 60 60 80 70 40 McKinney 78 94 74 86 72 / 50 60 70 70 40 Dallas 80 96 76 89 75 / 40 60 70 70 40 Terrell 78 97 75 89 73 / 40 50 60 60 30 Corsicana 79 96 77 89 74 / 30 30 40 50 30 Temple 79 99 77 94 74 / 10 20 30 40 30 Mineral Wells 75 96 71 86 69 / 60 60 80 70 40 && .FWD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Heat Advisory until 8 PM CDT Tuesday for TXZ103>107-117>123- 131>135-144>148-157>162-174-175. && 91
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Fort Worth TX 713 PM CDT Mon Aug 31 2020 TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-011200- 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- 713 PM CDT Mon Aug 31 2020 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for North and Central Texas. .DAY ONE...Tonight. Scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected through late overnight mainly north of I-20 and west of I-35. Locally heavy rainfall with flash flooding will be the main threat. Some storms could produce gusty winds and small hail. A Flash Flood Watch is in effect for parts of the region. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday. Thunderstorm chances will continue through the end of the week, with the best chances being Tuesday and Wednesday. Localized flash flooding will be the main concern, though gusty winds and frequent lightning will accompany the stronger storms. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
11 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Severe drought conditions affected southern parts of the county but showed signs of improvement by the second week of September.
Severe drought conditions affected most of the county but showed signs of improvement by the second week of September.
Severe drought conditions affected most of the county but showed signs of improvement by the second week of September.
Severe drought conditions affected the western half of the county but showed signs of improvement by the second week of September.
Severe drought conditions affected the western half of the county but showed signs of improvement by the second week of September.
Severe drought conditions affected southern parts of the county but showed signs of improvement by the second week of September.
Severe drought conditions affected northern parts of the county but showed signs of improvement by the second week of September.
Severe drought conditions affected northwestern parts of the county but showed signs of improvement by the second week of September.
Severe drought conditions affected southern parts of the county but showed signs of improvement by the second week of September.
Severe drought conditions affected southern parts of the county but showed signs of improvement by the second week of September.
Severe drought conditions affected most of the county but showed signs of improvement by the second week of September.
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, September 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: 922120, 922139, 922140, 922141, 922142, 922143, 922145, 922147, 922148, 922149, 922405.