Volume 17 Number 3                                                                                                    MARCH 2004

 

The month of March started off with some impressive severe weather.  A frontal system moved across the state and caused a lot of severe weather.  The Storm Prediction Center reported 20 tornadoes, 24 large hail occurrences, and over 100 high wind reports in Texas on March 4th.  Winds reached speeds of 91 mph in Wichita Falls and 80 mph south of Dallas-Fort Worth.

A cloudy, warm week followed the outbreak of severe weather as the passage of two more cold fronts brought much needed rain to many stations.  Thunderstorms developed late in the week along a boundary in West Texas leading to eight reports of large hail in the Trans Pecos region.  Southeast Texas also saw a lot of rain on the 14th and 15th – College Station, Houston, and Port Arthur all received over 1” for these days, and Galveston recorded almost 2.5”.

More severe weather popped up across the northern part of the state on the 20th as the result of a cold front.  There were 2 high wind reports, and 27 reports of large hail including 1.75” in Fisher, Howard, Red River, and Hopkins counties.  A few scattered storms popped up during the last half of the month before a high pressure system settled over the state.  The month finished with clear skies and warm temperatures.

For the month in general, all first-order stations had mean temperatures over two degrees above normal.  West and South Texas benefited from the heavy rainfall as Brownsville, El Paso, Midland, and Del Rio had over 300% of their average precipitation.  The central portion of the state was much drier than usual, but most stations remained above normal for the year.

 

Michael Hammer (Undergraduate Assistant)

 

 

 

 

MARCH 2004


 

              * Based on 1971-2000 Normals

              * Complete temperature data were unavailable.  Temperatures are rounded to the nearest whole degree.

                  *HDD - Heating degree-day: Refer to the Monthly Average chart for a definition                                                           T = Trace (<0.005")            

                  *CDD - Cooling degree-day: Refer to the Monthly Average chart for a definition                                           M:  Information not available.

 

 

 


CLIMATIC AVERAGES FOR APRIL


 

Based on 1971-2000 Normals

Records are at the current site, other records may have occurred at previous sites.

*CDD - Cooling degree-day:  The difference between the mean individual daily temperature and 65°F, with one

CDD resulting for each degree above the standard 65°F during one day.

*HDD - Heating degree-day:  The difference between the mean individual daily temperature and 65°F, with one

HDD resulting for each degree below the standard 65°F during one day.

 

 

Agricultural weather highlights:

 

http://agnews.tamu.edu/dailynews/stories/CROP/

 

 

 

Past Weather Events in April

 

April 28, 1893:  Tornado.  Cisco, Eastland County; 23 killed, 93 injured; damage $400,000.

 

April 5-8, 1900:  Rainstorm.  A storm, centered over the Brazos River watershed, precipitated an average of 17 inches over an area of 7,000 square miles.  At Hearne the gage overflowed at 24 inches, and there was an estimated total rainfall of 30 inches.  At Turnersvile, Coryell County, 33 inches were recorded in three days.  This rain caused the worst Brazos River flood on record.  Between 30 and 35 lives were lost.  Property damage was estimated at $9 million.

 

April 9, 1919:  Tornado.  Leonard, Ector, and Ravenna in Fannin County; 20 killed, 45 injured; damage $125,000.  Tornado.  Henderson, Van Zandt, Wood, Camp, and Red River counties, 42 killed, 150 injured; damage $450,000.

 

April 12, 1927:  Tornado.  Edwards, Real and Uvalde counties; 74 killed, 205 injured; damage $1,230,000.  Most of damage was in Rocksprings where 72 deaths occurred and town was practically destroyed.

 

April 9, 1947:  Tornado.  White Deer, Carson County; Glazier, Hemphill County; and Higgins, Lipscomb County; 68 killed, 201 injured; damage $1,550,000.  Glazier completely destroyed.  One of the largest tornadoes on record.  Width of path, 1 mile at Higgins; length of path, 221 miles across portions of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.  This tornado also struck Woodward, Oklahoma.

 

April 2, 1957:  Tornado.  Dallas, Dallas County; 10 killed, 200 injured; damage $4 million.  Moving through Oak Cliff and West Dallas, it damaged 574 buildings, largely homes.

 

April 3, 1964:  Tornado.  Wichita Falls.  Seven killed, 111 injured; damage $15 million; 225 homes destroyed, 50 with major damage, 200 with minor damage.  Sixteen other buildings received major damage.

 

April 10, 1979:  The worst single tornado in Texas' history hit Wichita Falls.  Earlier on the same day, several tornadoes hit farther west.  The destruction in Wichita Falls resulted in 42 dead, 1,740 injured, over 3,000 homes destroyed and damage of approximately $400 million.  An estimated 20,000 persons were left homeless by this storm.  In all, the tornadoes on April 10 killed 53 people, injured 1,812 and caused over $500 million in damages.

 

 

Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon (State Climatologist)

Kelsey Curtiss (Graduate Assistant)

Michael Hammer (Undergraduate Assistant)