Severe drought conditions impacted portions of North and Central Texas into the month of January. Drought conditions improved early in the month after beneficial rainfall was received.
Every event with a place to put it; 7 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 impacted portions of North and Central Texas into the month of January. Drought conditions improved early in the month after beneficial rainfall was received.
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 Dec 31, 11:24 PM CST, 36 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Fort Worth TX 1124 PM CST Sun Dec 31 2023 ...New Short Term, Aviation... .SHORT TERM... /NEW/ /Overnight through Monday night/ Much cooler and drier air will filter into the region overnight behind a southward moving cold front. A few sprinkles may accompany the front across the far southeast zones but the chances for measurable precipitation are extremely low. Increasing north winds between 10 and 20 mph and temperatures falling into the upper 20s and 30s for much of the region will result in wind chill values in the teens and 20s for all but the southeast zones where wind chills in the lower to middle 30s be more common. The first day of 2024 will be mostly sunny but cool with highs struggling to get out of the 40s across the northwest zones with lower and middle 50s elsewhere. The good news is that north winds will be decreasing through the day as surface high pressure sinks southeastward. Light winds and a clear sky Monday night will promote efficient radiational cooling with lows falling to or just below freezing for all but the far southern zones. 79 && .LONG TERM... /Issued 357 PM CST Sun Dec 31 2023/ /Monday Night Onward/ Multiple southern stream upper level systems will impact the region over the course of the next week with initial rain chances returning to North & Central Texas Tuesday, followed by another round of precipitation Friday and a subsequent system arriving early next week/just outside of the extended forecast period. The first full night of 2024 will be even colder than New Year's Eve as surface high pressure builds in across the Southeast. Radiational cooling may be slightly limited as cloud cover will gradually start to move in Monday night, but with the exception of the DFW Metroplex and the I-35/I-45 corridors across Central Texas, widespread lows at or a few degrees below freezing are anticipated. The surface high pressure will continue shifting south and east, exiting the Plains and becoming centered over the Ohio River Valley by the start of Tuesday. Winds will shift out of the east as a result, ahead of the first progressive shortwave trough advancing east out of the Desert Southwest. Rain chances will initially start out west Tuesday morning and spread eastward across the forecast area into Tuesday night, with the highest PoPs remaining across Central TX where better moisture resides. Easterly winds in place will significantly limit better moisture return and also limit the precip efficiency. By late afternoon and evening, enough instability may be present to support an isolated thunderstorm or two across Central Texas, but this elevated instability will be meager and other than lightning, no hazards are expected. QPF amounts will average up to half an inch for most of the area, but locations across southern Central Texas will be closer to the 0.5-0.75" range, with a few spots potentially managing to get 1". After the rain exits to the east Tuesday night, a weak front will move through Wednesday. A brief period of weak ridging and high pressure across the Plains will mean Wednesday and Thursday remain rain-free with highs in the 50s. The next (and more potent) system arrives early Friday as a positively-tilted upper trough becomes neutral as it digs into the Plains. Moisture return will be greater with this round, however guidance is still quite inconsistent with the track of the upper level system and how far south the cold air will make it. Although guidance had generally been trending further north with the main track (keeping the coldest air well out of the region), the deterministic GFS has returned to a more southerly track. It still remains too warm to include any potential for winter precip, but this will need to be closely monitored. Cluster analysis still indicates about 20% of the members taking this more southerly track. The primary window for a rain-snow mix along the Red River would occur Friday night, when the intrusion of cold air occurs and the more southerly track would result in this cold air being available to interact with potentially lingering wraparound moisture. Again, this window would be brief and the chance for any impacts is low as the bulk of the guidance keeps any rain- snow mix further north across Oklahoma. The forecast remains all liquid with this update. Rain will depart Saturday with increasing heights over the weekend, resulting in a slow warm up ahead of the next upper level system and rain chances early next week. Gordon && .AVIATION... /NEW/ /06Z TAFs/ A dry airmass behind a cold front will keep conditions mainly VFR at all TAF sites through Monday. Some post-frontal stratus will cross the Red River overnight and may briefly result in MVFR ceilings across the Metroplex TAF sites towards sunrise but it still appears these low clouds will scatter as they move southward so we will not mention any low ceilings in this TAF package. A north to northeast wind will prevail through Monday afternoon between 8 and 13 knots along with occasional higher gusts. Wind speeds will fall below 10 knots Monday evening while becoming more easterly. 79 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Dallas-Ft. Worth 34 52 33 53 40 / 0 0 0 30 70 Waco 37 53 32 54 41 / 0 0 0 60 80 Paris 32 50 29 50 36 / 0 0 0 10 60 Denton 29 50 29 51 36 / 0 0 0 30 60 McKinney 31 51 29 52 38 / 0 0 0 20 60 Dallas 35 52 34 53 41 / 0 0 0 30 70 Terrell 35 52 31 54 38 / 0 0 0 30 80 Corsicana 40 55 34 56 41 / 5 0 0 40 90 Temple 38 55 33 54 39 / 0 0 0 70 80 Mineral Wells 30 52 31 52 39 / 0 0 0 50 50 && .FWD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. &&
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Fort Worth TX 1142 PM CST Sun Dec 31 2023 TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-020000- 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- 1142 PM CST Sun Dec 31 2023 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...Monday through Saturday. An isolated storm or two will be possible across Central Texas Tuesday evening and night, then again Friday afternoon/night. Severe weather is not expected. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Severe drought conditions impacted portions of the county early in the month.
Severe drought conditions impacted portions of the county early in the month.
Severe drought conditions impacted portions of the county early in the month.
Severe drought conditions impacted portions of the county early in the month.
Severe drought conditions impacted portions of the county early in the month.
Severe drought conditions impacted portions of the county early in the month.
Severe drought conditions impacted portions of the county early in the month.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, January 2024
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: 1158780, 1158781, 1158782, 1158783, 1158784, 1158785, 1158786.