D2 and D3 drought conditions continued or developed across mainly the southeastern half of the CWA during March.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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.
D2 and D3 drought conditions continued or developed across mainly the southeastern half of the CWA during March.
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 Mar 14, 5:33 PM CST, 6 hours 27 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Fort Worth TX 633 PM CDT Sat Mar 14 2026 ...New AVIATION... .KEY MESSAGES... - A cold front on Sunday will bring strong north winds with gusts to around 50 mph. Unsecured outdoor items may be blown around in the wind and driving on area roadways may become difficult for high-profile vehicles. - Critical fire weather conditions are expected near and west of Interstate 35 on Sunday due to high winds and low humidity. Extreme care is urged during all outside activities where there is a potential for grass fires to get started. - There remains a low chance for a couple strong to marginally severe storms with a wind and hail threat in far East Texas Sunday Afternoon. - A late season freeze is expected for portions of North and Central Texas Sunday and Monday nights. && .SHORT TERM... (This evening through Sunday) Issued at 148 PM CDT Sat Mar 14 2026 A digging shortwave disturbance currently located over Oregon and Idaho is expected to swing down towards the Continental Divide today, spurring surface lee cyclogenesis just off the Rockies in response. The developing surface low will tighten the pressure gradient across the region, promoting an uptick in wind speeds and gusts throughout the rest of this afternoon. Increasing southerly winds around 15- 20 mph with gusts up to 25-30 mph and mostly sunny skies will push afternoon temperatures into the 70s and 80s. The aforementioned shortwave and surface low will continue to advance east-southeast across the Plains tonight into tomorrow morning, pushing the system's attendant cold front south and keeping winds across North and Central Texas elevated overnight. Expect sustained winds around 15-25 mph with gusts up to 35 mph. With the boundary layer unable to properly decouple, Sunday morning low temperatures will be a tad warmer in the 60s. The stout cold front is progged to reach out northwestern counties around 9-10 AM, moving through North Texas the rest of the morning. Areas in North Texas mainly near the Red River will break away from the diurnal temperature curve, observing their high temperatures early on before temperatures steadily fall behind the frontal boundary the rest of the day. With meager moisture return ahead of the front, FROPA should remain dry for most. However, there still remains a low chance in our East Texas counties that enough moisture will be able to pool along the front to aid in the development of some showers and storms. If storms are able to develop in our area, then we cannot rule out a couple strong to marginally severe wind gusts and hailstones. The highest threat for any severe storms remains outside of our area to the east. Behind the front, winds are expected to quickly shift out of the north and increase even further in speeds over the afternoon. Average wind speeds between 25-35 mph with gusts up to around 40-50 mph will be common across much of North and Central Texas over the afternoon into the evening, and a Wind Advisory has been issued for all of our 46 counties for tomorrow in response. While some spots in North Texas may approach our High Wind Warning criteria (sustained 40+ mph / gusts 58+ mph), any location that reaches or exceeds that criteria will be more sporadic and isolated in nature, so we have foregone any issuance of this product at this time. All this being said, it will be incredibly windy tomorrow, so make sure to secure or bring in any loose outdoor items and to take caution when driving on W-E oriented roads. Lastly, fire weather concerns will ramp up particularly across areas near and west of I-35 during the afternoon and evening. Even with the influx of cooler temperatures and the recent rainfall kickstarting the spring green-up, there is still quite a bit of dried fuels to burn across the region. Relative humidity is expected to drop to down to between 20-25% during the day tomorrow, and with those high winds and warm temperatures out ahead of the front, will promote a near-critical to critical fire weather threat. Avoid any outdoor burning as any fire that is able to ignite will spread rapidly and be difficult to contain. The previous Fire Weather Watch has now been upgraded into a Red Flag Warning for near and west of I- 35. && .LONG TERM... (Sunday night through next Friday) Issued at 148 PM CDT Sat Mar 14 2026 Over the course of Sunday night, winds will remain elevated but will gradually decrease in speed. Stout cold air advection will continue to spread across the region as we head into Monday, allowing for quite the chilly start to the week. Areas near/north of US-380 and near/west of US-281 are forecast to drop to or below freezing, with mid-upper 30s elsewhere. Breezy winds 15-20 mph with gusts up to 25-30 mph will keep the wind chill even colder in the 20s region-wide. Make sure to bundle up when you head out the door! North winds will keep the rest of the day chilly, with Monday afternoon highs in the 50s and another morning of upper 20s-mid 30s and slightly lower wind chills on Tuesday. Behind the departing shortwave, upper level ridging will begin to build in by midweek. Along with southerly flow returning, the deepening ridge will allow for a warmer latter half of this upcoming week into the weekend. && .AVIATION... (00Z TAFS) Issued at 615 PM CDT Sat Mar 14 2026 Breezy south winds with VFR skies will continue the rest of this evening, before an intrusion of low stratus occurs overnight into Saturday morning. This will result in MVFR cigs near 2 kft at all airports after ~08z, although cigs may be relatively short-lived at western Metroplex airports of AFW and FTW. A gradual west-to- east erosion of low stratus will occur by late morning. Winds will also begin to veer westerly during this time period ahead of the arrival of a strong cold front. The westward veering could result in a short window of minor crosswind impacts between 16-18z, but speeds should also be slightly lower during this time in close proximity to a surface low along the approaching frontal zone. An abrupt wind shift to NNW will occur with the frontal passage by 18z at all Metroplex airports and around 19z at Waco. Expect sustained speeds of 25-30 kts and gusts as high as 40-45 kts behind the front, and these speeds will persist through the rest of the afternoon and evening before gradually declining Sunday night. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Dallas-Ft. Worth 64 77 35 53 / 0 0 0 0 Waco 64 83 36 53 / 0 0 0 0 Paris 61 71 31 48 / 0 30 10 0 Denton 61 76 31 51 / 0 0 0 0 McKinney 63 76 32 50 / 0 0 0 0 Dallas 65 80 35 53 / 0 0 0 0 Terrell 62 77 33 52 / 0 10 0 0 Corsicana 65 80 35 54 / 0 10 0 0 Temple 63 84 36 55 / 0 0 0 0 Mineral Wells 62 77 31 53 / 0 0 0 0 && .FWD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Wind Advisory from 7 AM Sunday to 1 AM CDT Monday for TXZ091>095- 100>107-115>121-123-129>134-141>146. Red Flag Warning from noon to 9 PM CDT Sunday for TXZ091-092- 100>103-115>119-129>134-141>145-156>160-174. Wind Advisory from 2 PM Sunday to 1 AM CDT Monday for TXZ122-135- 147-148-156>162-174-175. && SHORT TERM...Prater LONG TERM....Prater AVIATION...Stalley
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
D2 drought conditions developed across the eastern half of McLennan County in the middle of the month, and spread to the entire county by the end of the month.
D2 drought conditions developed across Falls County in the middle of the month.
D2 drought conditions developed across the eastern portions of Bell County in the middle of the month.
D2 drought conditions developed across the southern portions of Hill County in the middle of the month.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, March 2026
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: 1319603, 1319605, 1319607, 1319608.