2004 Climate Summary

This was a wet year with mild temperatures. Heavy rain and flash flooding highlighted the warm season.

The winter was largely mild and wet. The coldest temperatures were on January 6-7, with highs in the 30s and lows around 20. February averaged below normal, due mostly to a cool spell the first half of the month. The last official freeze was February 16th, but for many outlying areas, it was February 27th.

Most of January's precipitation (1-3 inches) fell with a warm front on the 16th, and urban and small stream flooding occurred at Killeen and Fort Hood. The most notable feature of February's precipitation was a Valentine's Day snowfall that blanketed the Red River and many north central counties with 3-5 inches of snow. Between 1-3 inches fell elsewhere over north Texas, excepting the southeast sections, where only trace amounts were recorded. A wet pattern the end of February produced high water in low lying areas, and a woman drowned at Crowley (Tarrant county) trying to cross a flooded creek on foot.

The spring was characterized by mostly seasonable values of temperature and precipitation. Generally mild temperatures were broken by three distinct cool spells:  April 11-14, May 1-3, and May 14-15.  Moderate to heavy rain fell the first part of March, the latter part of April, and the middle and end of May, but in between were some brief dry spells. Gusty (30-35 MPH ) south wind prevailed much of the daytime hours April 15-20.

Severe weather peppered north Texas, with a few significant events. A chronological list of major and minor events for the spring season are as follows:

March 4 - Thunderstorms in the afternoon brought widespread (mostly minor) wind damage to much of north Texas, but a few brief tornadoes and isolated downbursts produced more significant damage. The tornadoes (all rated F1) were reported near Graham, Springtown and southern Ellis county, while the downbursts occurred near Farmersville, Kaufman, and Wills Point.

March 20 - Golf ball size hail was reported over eastern Hopkins county in the evening. Isolated small hail (dime to nickel size) was reported elsewhere over parts of the north central and northeast sections.

April 6-7 - Golf ball size hail fell over northeast Parker county the evening of the 6th, with smaller hail reported over southwest Denton and northwest Tarrant counties. On the afternoon of the 7th, small hail was reported over Anderson and Leon counties.

April 9-10 - Baseball size hail was reported near Mullin (Mills county) the evening of the 9th, while golf ball size hail fell near Paris. On the afternoon of the 10th, minor wind damage and small hail occurred over parts of Milam and Robertson counties.

April 22-24 - Golf Ball size hail fell the evening of the 22nd from Montague to Muenster, and during the late afternoon and early evening hours of the 23rd over northern Young county. Overnight the 23rd-24th, widespread 2-4 inch rainfall produced lowland flooding in Hamilton, Bosque, Coryell, McLennan, Hill, and Navarro counties.

April 30 - May 1 - Scattered thunderstorms developed the afternoon of April 30th, and continued into the early morning hours of May 1st, bringing widespread hail and heavy rain. Golf ball size hail was reported from Ranger, through northern Erath county, to Granbury, from Hamilton to north Bosque county to Rainbow, from Arlington to Dallas, and from Cedar Creek Reservoir to Canton. There were five flash flood fatalities (two in Tarrant county and three in Navarro county), all attributed to vehicles being caught or washed away at low water crossings.

May 13 - Persistent thunderstorms dumped 10-15 inches of rain over Milam and Robertson counties during the morning hours, producing widespread flooding. Flooding was also reported in Bell and Falls counties. Remarkably, there were no flash flood fatalities, but damage to roads, bridges, and agricultural areas was estimated in the millions of dollars.

May 27 - A strong downburst destroyed three mobile homes near Lillian (northeast Johnson county) in the evening, injuring one person. Earlier, thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening produced reports of small hail and minor wind damage in Comanche, Eastland, Erath, Palo Pinto, and Parker counties. Brief street flooding was reported at Fort Worth and Lewisville in the evening from 2-4 inches of rain.

May 30-31 - Widely scattered thunderstorms the afternoon and evening of the 30th produced reports of golf ball size hail near Honey Grove, Paris, Quinlan (Hunt county), Emory, and Flat (Coryell county). On the afternoon and evening of the 31st, golf ball size hail was reported over southern Hill, northern McLennan, northern Bell, and northern Anderson counties.

June 1-2 - Severe thunderstorms the afternoon and evening of the 1st over the southwest and north central sections of north Texas produced one of the major severe weather episodes of the year. Hail between golf ball and baseball size was reported over parts of Young, Jack, Wise, Denton, Parker, Erath, Comanche, Hamilton, and Hill counties. But the big story was the 60-80 MPH wind that took down trees and power lines over much of Tarrant, Dallas, Johnson, Ellis, Kaufman, Van Zandt, Henderson, Navarro, and Anderson counties. Half a million people lost power, some for as long as five days. Damage was estimated near $100 million in Tarrant county alone. Additional storms the afternoon and evening of the 2nd aggravated the situation, and golf ball size hail was reported over northern Jack county.

June 4-7 - A unsettled pattern remained in place over north Texas, producing isolated large hail, strong downburst wind, and damaging floods. On the afternoon and evening of the 4th, golf ball size hail fell over southern Erath, northern Bosque, and western Hill counties, while minor wind damage was reported over parts of Lampasas, Coryell, and Bell counties. Golf ball size hail was reported the afternoon of the 5th near McKinney, and near Denton, the afternoon of the 6th. Overnight the 6th-7th, heavy rain produced widespread flooding over much of Young, Jack, Wise, Cooke, Denton, Parker, and Tarrant counties. At White Settlement, in western Tarrant county, an overflowing creek flooded over 200 structures, with an estimated $1 million in damage.

June 8-10 - Thunderstorms around midday flooded roads and low lying areas in Freestone, Leon, and Robertson counties. During the day on the 9th, the heavy rain moved north and produced more flooding over Wise, Denton, Cooke, Parker, Tarrant, Erath, Hood, and Somervell counties, while the afternoon of the 9th through the early mornings hours of the 10th saw flooding spread to Johnson and Dallas, Mills, Hamilton, and Coryell, and Limestone, Freestone, Milam and Robertson counties. In Parker county, flooding the 1st through the 9th flooded over a thousand homes, doing an estimated $5 million in damage; damage to roads and bridges accounted for nearly another $2 million.

The unsettled weather continued through much of June, and heavy rain events the end of July and latter half of August contributed to one of the coolest and wettest summers on record. There was only one 100-degree day at DFW (July 16^th). Otherwise, the warmest temperatures were during the middle of July and the first few days of August. A late warm spell the middle of September contrasted with a largely cool August, making for a "backward" late summer.

The major summer severe weather and heavy rain events were as follows:

June 18-19 - An isolated thunderstorm produced minor wind damage in Cook county the afternoon of the 18th, and in Dallas county the afternoon of the 19th.

June 25-26 - Thunderstorms the afternoon of the 25th produced golf ball size hail, minor wind damage, and heavy rain over Hood county. Early on the 26th, heavy rain caused street flooding in Bell, McLennan, and LImestone counties. On the afternoon of the 26th, a rogue tornado was blamed for killing one person near Maysfield in eastern Milam county. During the evening of the 26th, flooding was reported in Milam, Falls, Limestone, and Robertson county.

June 28-29 - Early morning thunderstorms on the 28th produced flooding from southeast Tarrant county (Mansfield) across southern Dallas, northern Ellis, and southern Kaufman, and southeast Van Zandt counties. Additional flooding occurred during the late morning and early afternoon hours over Hunt, Ellis, Palo Pinto, and Tarrant counties. A creek near the Fort Worth zoo overflowed, closing the facility and flooding some 40 vehicles in the parking lot. On the afternoon of the 29th, more storms produced scattered flooding in Palo Pinto, Tarrant, Johnson, Ellis and Bell counties. Part of the Tarrant flooding included the creek running through Six Flags Amusement Park, stranding some patrons and closing the park.

July 3 - Minor wind damage was reported over parts of Montague, Cooke and Grayson counties.

July 7 - Afternoon thunderstorms produced golf ball size hail in Dallas and brief flooding in Killeen.

July 28-29 - Thunderstorms early on the 28th produced five inches of rain at Olney (Young county), flooding low lying areas. On the afternoon of the 28th, golf ball size hail and minor wind damage was reported at Mesquite (Dallas county). Gusty winds were also reported near Lewisville (Denton county), and northern Tarrant county. But the big story was the torrential rain that fell from the evening of the 28th through the early morning hours of the 29th. Between 6-13 inches of rain fell over parts of Tarrant, Johnson, Ellis, Dallas, and Rockwall counties, with widespread flooding. The worst flooding was reported from Mansfield to Lancaster, south to Waxahachie. Numerous high water rescues were reported, with three flash flood fatalities. Hundreds of homes and businesses were flooded, with damage estimated above $25 million.

July 31 - Minor wind damage reported in Hill and Freestone counties in the afternoon.

August 11 - Extensive, but mostly minor, wind damage was reported at Cameron (Milam county) in the afternoon. Isolated small hail was reported with a storm over southwest Ellis and northwest Navarro counties.

August 19 - Widely scattered thunderstorms during the day produced flooding of roads and low lying areas in parts of Tarrant and Johnson counties, as well as Hamilton and Comanche counties. During the evening, minor wind damage was reported in Freestone and Robertson counties.

August 20-21 - Thunderstorms the morning of the 20th produced 3-7 inches of rain, flooding low lying areas. Over six inches of rain fell over southern Bell county through the morning of the 21st.

August 30 - Golf ball size hail was reported in the evening over northern Montague county.

September 14 - Widely scattered thunderstorms the afternoon of the 14th produced minor wind damage from Sangar to Gainesville, and near Athens.

The fall continued the mild and wet pattern from late spring. Temperatures averaged above normal from September through the first half of December, but a cold front November 2nd provided a sharp demarcation line between well above normal warmth in late October to more seasonable readings in November. A heavy frost occurred the morning of November 25th, but the first freeze for much of north Texas was December 1st.

There were several severe weather or heavy rain events in October and November, the most significant November 23rd in Dallas county. Details are as follows:

October 1 - Scattered thunderstorms produced mostly minor wind damage in the evening over parts of Comanche, Hamilton, Coryell, McLennan, and Milam counties.

October 4, 6 - Thunderstorms during the early morning hours of the 4^th produced small hail and flooded roads over parts of Denton and Kaufman counties. On the 6^th, minor wind damage was reported in the evening over parts of Kaufman and Henderson counties.

October 22 - Late evening thunderstorms produced up to five inches of rain and minor flooding in parts of Bell and McLennan counties.

October 24-25 - Golf ball size hail was reported the afternoon of the 24^th over northern Hood county. Late morning and early afternoon thunderstorms on the 25^th caused minor flooding in Hill county.

October 30 - Small hail was reported with evening thunderstorms over northeast Comanche, northeast Tarrant, and northwest Dallas counties.

November 23 - Thunderstorms during the morning hours produced golf ball size hail near Marlin (Falls county) and Clifton (Bosque) county. During the early afternoon, extensive wind damage was reported from Grand Prairie to north Dallas. The wind equipment at Love Field logged a gust to 76 MPH with this event.

The early winter season was marked by a strong cold front December 22nd that was accompanied by light sleet and snow over the northern sections of north Texas. Between 4-5 inches accumulated along the Red River from Sherman to Paris, and 1-2 inch accumulations were reported over parts of Wise, Denton, and Collin counties. Three days of cold weather followed, with lows into the teens over the west and north parts of the region (the cold was blamed for the death of a homeless man in Fort Worth). On Christmas Day, up to a foot of snow blanketed the Texas coast.