2003 Climate Summary

Overall, this was a relatively dry and mild year. Severe weather was at a relative minimum.

Winter temperatures saw considerable variability, but without extremes. The coldest readings were January 23-24 and February 24-25 (teens north and 20s south). January was dry, but February saw some wetness in the east, much of it coming February 21. A mix of sleet and snow occurred over the northern sections of north Texas January 12, but the impact was minimal. A more significant winter storm occurred February 24-25, with 3-5 inches of snow in the north, 1-3 inches of sleet and snow in the central, and a quarter to half an inch of ice in the south. The ice and snow disrupted travel on roads and in the air through the 27th. The last official freeze at DFW was March 6, but most other sections of north Texas saw another March 30, and many northern sections saw a light freeze the morning of April 9.

The spring was largely dry. Alternating warm and cool weather persisted from March through the first ten days in April, but a warming trend occurred from April 10 through May 20 (a period of about six weeks). A few late spring fronts brought cooler temperatures from late May through mid June, except for May 30, when temperatures reached the century mark at some locations. March, April, and May were all drier than normal, but June brought welcome rain during an unsettled period the first half of the month.

Severe weather was relatively infrequent, with no major tornadoes. Large hail fell at Mineral Wells and Weatherford March 17, and near Killeen, Waco and Ennis March 25. Probably the worst event of the spring came April 5, when several long lived super cells marched across north Texas dropping baseball to softball size hail. One storm moved from Young county across the northern sections of the Metroplex, and all the way to Hopkins county. Another storm moved along the Red River counties from Bowie to Paris. Damage was estimated at $885 million, the worst since the Mayfest storm of 1995.

Additional large hail fell April 23 from Breckenridge to Stephenville to Cleburne. This event ended in a damaging wind event over eastern Johnson county, with extensive damage to mobile homes, and 12 injuries. On May 1, large hail fell over scattered areas, including northeast Tarrant county; Hood, Johnson, and northern Bosque counties; and Mills, Hamilton, McLennan, Limestone, Leon, and Anderson counties.

Isolated large hail was also reported at Bridgeport May 6, Granbury and Dallas May 13, Whitesboro, Cresson and Cleburne May 14, and over Navarro, Henderson, Van Zandt, Limestone, Freestone, Anderson, and Robertson counties May 16. Wind and hail damaged property and crops May 24-25 over Cooper, Hunt, Hopkins, Rains, Kaufman, southeast Dallas, and Denton counties.

June saw more wind storms and fewer hail storms. Minor wind damage was reported in Hood county June 4, Lampasas county June 5, Mills county June 8th, and Cook and Lamar counties overnight June 10-11. Wind damage was widespread with thunderstorms the afternoon and evening of June 11 from Jacksboro to north Dallas, and from Hamilton to Waco. Additional wind damage was reported the next afternoon from Frost and Mexia to south of Centerville. Damaging wind and large hail also occurred June 14 over Palo Pinto, Erath, and Hill counties.

The rain in June delayed the onset of the summer heat, but it eventually arrived by mid July. The hottest temperatures of the summer were August 6 and 7, when maximums were in the 105-110 degree range over a wide area of north Texas. An unsettled period August 9-14 took the edge off the heat wave, and an early fall front August 30 pretty much ended it for good. There were 19 100-degree days at DFW, but only nine at Waco.

Widely scattered thunderstorms in July and August produced frequent downbursts that did mostly minor damage. Isolated large hail also occurred in a few cases. Reports of wind damage were common over parts of north central and east Texas July 22-23, August 9-12, and August 21-27. One person was killed near Carrollton on August 24 when a wall of a building under construction blew over, and another was killed near McKinney August 26 when a house under construction collapsed.

September and early October saw near to below normal temperatures, with heavy rain over parts of north Texas September 11 (Graham, Jacksboro, and Fort Worth), September 18 (the I-35 corridor from DFW to Waco), and October 9 (Waco-Temple areas). Strong cold fronts from mid October through the end of the year brought wider swings in temperature, averaging more frequently above normal than below.  Near freezing temperatures occurred in some areas October 27, but the first freeze for most places was November 24.

Another heavy rain event occurred over the southeast sections of north Texas November 16. But most of the rest of the late fall and early winter showed a drying trend. The evening of December 15 saw a brief dust storm over the northern sections of north Texas, with visibilities as low as two miles at DFW.