Denton Weather

By Lowell Brown
Staff Writer

A severe thunderstorm watch remained in effect today throughout North Texas as residents and emergency workers assessed damages from overnight storms and crews rushed to restore power in the Roanoke-Trophy Club area.
The storm watch includes Denton County and is in effect until 6 p.m., said Jesse Moore, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. The county received between 1 and 2 inches of rain overnight, and straight-line winds leveled trees and power lines.
A report of a tornado touching down near Flower Mound was still unconfirmed, Moore said.
The heaviest rain Thursday was just south of Denton County. Between 2 to 7 inches had fallen in Dallas County over the past 24 hours, resulting in major flooding, Moore said.
"There are numerous high-water rescues going on as we speak," he said.
No injuries were reported in Denton County, but some Lewisville residents were displaced when the storm damaged the roof and caved in a wall at their apartment complex at Main and Orchard streets, said Jody Gonzalez, the county's emergency management coordinator.
Residents of 16 units of the complex were relocated to other units or motel rooms for the night with help from the American Red Cross, Gonzalez said. A Trophy Club family also spent the night in a motel after fallen tree limbs damaged electrical connections to their home, he said.
About half of Roanoke and three-quarters of Trophy Club remained without power late Thursday morning, and sporadic outages were reported in Lewisville, Gonzalez said. In Denton, about 2,800 customers of Denton Municipal Electric were without electricity at some point Wednesday or early Thursday, but power was fully restored by about 2:30 a.m., said Lisa Lemons, a DME spokeswoman.
"We had isolated power outages all across town," Lemons said. "It was limbs on lines, breakers tripping, the kind of stuff that you get with a pretty large-scale storm."
Just southwest of Denton, Andrew Sewell said he needed to buy water for his horses this morning because power had been out all night. He said about 30 homes in his area were without power.
With weather equipment he owns, he clocked winds at 63 mph during Wednesday night's storm, he said.

Staff writer Matthew Zabel contributed to this report.
LOWELL BROWN can be reached at 940-566-6882. His e-mail address is lmbrown@dentonrc.com.

Very nice, but tricky weather continues across the area. I noticed that I have at least one tree in the back yard that is showing new growth and my rose bushes look really happy. Some of these "early budders" may get tricked or fooled like us into thinking that "cold" weather is over. It ain't yet! I fully expect another cold spell (significant) before winter is done with us. This weekend should be much cooler with a stout cold front flirting with the area, but this isn't the "last" cold spell. So until then, spring hangs on, fire weather threat increases while the rollercoaster weather continues.

Here's tomorrow's U.S. weather forecast (Image Courtesy of WeatherToGolf LLC):

Remember you can keep up with the latest real-time conditions in Denton by using the link below courtesy of the WeatherUnderground and WeatherToGolf,LLC.

Click here for Real time Denton weather conditions.

See the TML SkyCam live on the WeatherToGolf.Com weather page along with current radar shots and forecasts for Denton Texas.

Feel free to send me an email by clicking here.

Warm to very warm days and cool nights are expected to be with us most of this week. Today will be one of the cooler days with highs near 70 degrees. South winds will be strong and gusty. The humidity is still very low, so there will be an increased fire danger across north Texas this afternoon. As the strong south winds begin to finally bring a bit of moisture into the area we should see mostly cloudy skies Tuesday morning with some patchy fog and very light drizzle, but we should see partly cloudy conditions by mid day. Afternoon high temperatures will be on the rise all week and will be flirting with 80 degrees by Thursday.

A few very weak upper level disturbances will move through the area this week, but I'm not expecting any rain as our quality of moisture will not be adequate.

Drought conditions continue for our area...

See today's article in the DRC by Bj Lewis about Lake Levels. The article can be found HERE

Here are a couple of maps Courtesy of WeatherToGolf LLC depicting current drought data across the U.S.

Here the Palmer Drought Index:

Here is a map showing how much precipitation is needed to end the drought:

Don't forget you have a window to look out of by way of the Denton Tree and Moss Laboratory. Click HERE for the most recent time-lapse of the skies above Denton.

Remember you can keep up with the latest real-time conditions in Denton by using the link below courtesy of the WeatherUnderground and WeatherToGolf,LLC.

Click here for Real time Denton weather conditions.

See the TML SkyCam live on the WeatherToGolf.Com weather page along with current radar shots and forecasts for Denton Texas.

Feel free to send me an email by clicking here.

Strong cold front moved through the area this morning bringing very gusty winds and dry air. Winds could gust to near 40mph at times but should begin to slack off later today.

With low humidity and gusty winds there is a high fire danger today. So take the necessary precautions.

As the winds die down overnight and skies remain clear we should drop down into the middle 20s. So if you've been fooled by the recent "spring-ish" weather and put out any tender plants or vegetation you will need to protect them tonight.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Very dry air has entered the region behind the latest front. This will allow us to cool off rapidly after sunset. Look for lows tonight in the low 30s. Tomorrow will be sunny with a high around 60 degrees. Skies will remain clear and the winds will drop off Thursday night and allow us to drop to near 30 degrees.

Another frontal system will move through the area on Friday night. There is a slight chance of showers as the front moves in. My confidence in showers is not very high at this time due to lack of decent moisture return. The front will however serve to knock our temperatures down below normals for a couple of days. Look for windy conditions on Saturday.

As a dryline/Pacific cold front come through this evening a few showers may form. Chances are not great so most of us will see cloudy and sometimes foggy/misty weather overnight.

Tomorrow will be a warm dry day as we transition into a cooler weather regime. As is pretty typical here in Texas if we get a really warm day this time of year then the weather is in a change mode.

With much drier air and windy conditions tomorrow the NWS has issued a Red Flag Warning for tomorrow (begining at 10am) that includes Denton County.

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM TO 6 PM CST WEDNESDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT WORTH HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM TO 6 PM CST WEDNESDAY. THE FIRE WEATHER WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

RELATIVE HUMIDITIES WILL FALL BELOW 25 PERCENT AND WIND SPEEDS WILL INCREASE ABOVE 20 MPH ALONG WITH SOME STRONGER GUSTS. OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES THAT HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO INITIATE GRASS FIRES ARE DISCOURAGED. FORMAL OUTDOOR BURN BANS ARE IN EFFECT FOR NEARLY EVERY COUNTY IN NORTH TEXAS. IN SUCH COUNTIES...OUTDOOR BURNING AND WELDING ARE PROHIBITED.|

A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW...OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF STRONG WINDS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AND DRY VEGETATION WILL CREATE EXPLOSIVE FIRE GROWTH POTENTIAL. AVOID ALL OUTSIDE BURNING AND WELDING TODAY. DO NOT TOSS LIT CIGARETTE BUTTS OUTSIDE. REPORT WILD FIRES TO THE NEAREST FIRE DEPARTMENT OR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICE.

The latest drought information statement continues to show us holding steady in a Moderate Drought Condition...

Here is the latest Palmer Drought Index map courtesy of MichiganWxSystem.

Everybody enjoy the weather as it's starting its early spring rollercoaster rides.

Clouds will continue to increase today along with southerly winds. We may see enough moisture return to generate some patchy fog overnight.

Rain chances will increase on Tuesday as an upperlevel disturbance moves by the area. A cold front will follow in the footsteps of the disturbance on Wednesday scouring out the moisture and cooling us down for a few days.

Tonight's low temperature will be in the 40s with a high on Tuesday in the mid 60s. We will experience some pre-frontal compression warming on Wednesday prior to the cold front passage and should warm up into the 70s.

Cooler, seasonable temperatures will be in place starting Wednesday night.

TML-Denton SkyCam1 shows the increasing clouds and a temperature at the lab of 61 degrees.

It really will be nice today and tomorrow with no surprises...I promise!

We'll see fair skies with afternoon highs in the mid to upper 50s. Some clouds will move in overnight but should begin to scatter out by late morning. Tomorrow's highs will be near 60 degrees with an increasing south wind around 15mph.

Taking a look outside via the TML-Denton SkyCam1 things look pretty nice. Have a great Sunday.

I got caught by surprise today. I haven't been paying attention to the weather this weekend as I didn't expect this latest disturbance to be strong enough to affect our local weather. My Bad!

After yesterday's frontal passage we have cool air at the surface but some unstable air aloft. This will cause scattered showers and a few thunderstorms to move through the area today. Some of the heavier thunderstorms may produce some sleet as the air above us is much colder than at ground level.

Here is a recent radar image capture of WeatherToGolf.com's Denton County radar:

As another front moves through the area behind this disturbance on Sunday we should see drier and more stable air cover the area.

Have a great Saturday and remember if you see approaching dark clouds to be aware as some cloud to ground lightning is possible.

Next couple of days will see daytime temperatures here in the Denton area in the low 70s. Tonight the low temps will drop into the low to mid 50s. The next cool front is expected in on Friday evening and will drop our lows into the upper 30s on Saturday morning. Daytime highs should make it to near 60 degrees Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Another reinforcing shot of cool, dry air will come into the region Sunday afternoon with some gusty north winds. This will keep temperatures near seasonal normals through early next week. Looks like the next shot as some rain may come into the forecast by midweek. Rain potential will depend on how much gulf moisture can return to the area. That's still several days away so we'll focus on that early next week.

Taking a look outside via the TML Denton Skycam shows a beautiful day in progress with just some high clouds streaming across the area.

Notes and asides: You may have noticed in an earlier post I mentioned the forensic meteorology that is conducted by the National Weather Service after severe weather events.

Here are a couple links to some of that data if you're interested:

*Preliminary Damage Surveys for Tuesday's Storms.*

*A scientific overview of the Feb 10th storms.*

Everyone have a great Thursday.

Don't forget you have a window to look out of by way of the Denton Tree and Moss Laboratory. Click HERE for the most recent time-lapse of the skies above Denton.

Remember you can keep up with the latest real-time conditions in Denton by using the link below courtesy of the WeatherUnderground and WeatherToGolf,LLC.

Click here for Real time Denton weather conditions.

See the TML SkyCam live on the WeatherToGolf.Com weather page along with current radar shots and forecasts for Denton Texas.

Feel free to send me an email by clicking here.

We have seen the worst of the thunderstorm activity in the Denton area now. The front/dryline will be moving through in the next hour and winds are going to be very gusty from the west. Some non-thunderstorm wind gusts behind the front could be as high as 35-40mph.

There are multiple reports of wind damage from straight line winds and potential tornadoes. Today's weather will be the talk of North Texas tomorrow.

Strong damaging winds will be possible within the next 30 minutes.

Vigorous storms are moving through Wise and Parker counties and will begin affecting us here shortly.

Here is another image capture of the radar courtesy of WeatherToGolf.com:

Be on heightened alert for the next couple of hours.

Upper level energy is now beginning to catch up to the dry line pacific cold front combo. This can be seen on local area radars as activity is increasing in coverage and strength. There are several isolated storms that have reached severe limits and warnings have been issued.

The isolated storms ahead of the squall line will be the ones that may pose a tornadic potential. However the overall threat will trend toward high winds and hail with the squall line. Squall line arrival at this time looks to be around and after 8pm.

Continue to monitor local TV, radio and NOAA all hazards radio for the most up to date info on this weather situation.

Here is a radar image capture courtesy of WeatherToGolf.com

The storm prediction center has issued a tornado watch effective from 3:40pm till midnight. See the graphic below that outlines the affected area.

The atmosphere continues to destabilize quite rapidly in our area and a well pronounced squall line is developing along the dry line out to our west. Up in Oklahoma tornadoes have already been spawned from this activity.

A quick upper level analysis shows the intense wind shear now moving across west Texas toward us. As this energy catches up with the dryline storms will begin to become more numerous and will have the potential to go severe rather quickly.

The atmosphere is still set up for very strong winds, large hail and potential tornadoes with thunderstorms that form and stay together.

Stay Alert!

Here is the tornado watch outline courtesy of the Storm Prediction Center:

Storms with occasional lightning strikes are popping up now. A tornado watch has been issued for counties immediately to our west. Wise County is included.

More sunshine is beginning to make it through and we're now experiencing ongoing moderate destabilization at the ground level.

Stay tuned!

We should see a tornado watch go up in the next hour or so and we should be on the eastern edge of this watch box.

Latest data still shows very impressive wind shear (change in wind speed or direction with height) and a destabilizing atmosphere across North Texas. Also some additional data shows that the hail threat may also be increasing with storms later today.

Keep in mind the more sunshine that peeks through the better the chance of severe weather.

I'll let you know when the tornado watch goes up and my thoughts on how this weather situation is unfolding.

...SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK FOR NORTH TEXAS LIKELY TODAY...

INGREDIENTS ARE COMING TOGETHER FOR A WIDESPREAD EPISODE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS NORTH TEXAS. RICH GULF MOISTURE IS WELL ESTABLISHED ACROSS THE REGION. A POTENT UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM WILL APPROACH THE AREA ALONG WITH A DRYLINE TAKING SHAPE TO OUR WEST...FROM WESTERN OKLAHOMA INTO THE TEXAS BIG COUNTRY.

THIS AFTERNOON...GENERALLY AFTER 2 PM...ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BEGIN TO DEVELOP ACROSS NORTH TEXAS. ANY STORMS THAT DEVELOP WILL HAVE THE CAPABILITY TO QUICKLY BECOME SEVERE. THE MOST LIKELY AREA FOR STORM DEVELOPMENT WILL BE JUST WEST OF THE INTERSTATE 35 CORRIDOR AND EASTWARD. THESE STORMS WILL MOVE TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AROUND 50 MPH AND WILL BE CAPABLE OF LARGE HAIL... DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 70 MPH...AND A FEW TORNADOES.
ANOTHER ROUND OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED DURING THE EVENING HOURS ACROSS WESTERN NORTH TEXAS ALONG THE DRYLINE. THESE STORMS WILL LIKELY ORGANIZE IN A STRONG SQUALL LINE THAT WILL MOVE EAST AT 50 TO 60 MPH. DAMAGING WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 70 MPH WILL BE THE MAIN THREAT WITH THIS LINE...BUT EMBEDDED BRIEF TORNADOES WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE.

WHILE SEVERE WEATHER MAY OCCUR ANYWHERE ACROSS NORTH TEXAS TODAY... CONDITIONS ARE MOST FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES ALONG AND EAST OF THE INTERSTATE 35 CORRIDOR...WITH INCREASING CHANCES ACROSS NORTHEAST TEXAS. ANY TORNADOES THAT DEVELOP MAY BE WRAPPED IN RAIN AND DIFFICULT TO SEE.

NOW IS THE TIME TO HAVE YOUR SEVERE WEATHER PLAN IN PLACE AND BE PREPARED TO ENACT THE PLAN ON SHORT NOTICE. SEVERE WEATHER THREATS TODAY WILL BE LARGE HAIL TO THE SIZE OF GOLFBALLS...DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 70 MPH...AND TORNADOES. IN THE EVENT YOUR AREA IS UNDER A WARNING...STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS AND GO TO THE CENTER PORTION OF YOUR HOME OR WORK ON THE LOWEST LEVEL. COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS AND CONSIDER BIKE HELMETS...COATS...OR MATTRESSES FOR ADDITIONAL PROTECTION. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO OUTRUN THE STORMS IN YOUR CAR AND NEVER SEEK SHELTER UNDER A BRIDGE OR OVERPASS.
REMAIN WEATHER AWARE TODAY AND KEEP UP TO DATE WITH THE LATEST WATCHES AND WARNINGS FROM YOUR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT WORTH WITH NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OUR WEBPAGE...OR COMMERCIAL RADIO AND TELEVISION.

The latest grapicast:

See my post from yesterday that discusses the weather setup today. Please stay alert folks...rv

Although this morning's wind storms were associated with a strong upper level disturbance moving by the area, another and even stronger one will be moving into west Texas during the day tomorrow. The center of today's system passed us by to the northwest, but tomorrow's should come very near us. In addition to that we will have a buildup of higher quality gulf moisture ahead it.

There is tremendous wind energy associated with this next system and with more moisture around there will be more "fuel for the fire". Severe storms are expected to begin to pop up in the afternoon. They will be isolated in nature, but any storm that gets going will have the potential to produce large hail, high winds and even tornadoes. Storms will be moving to the east northeast at a very fast clip which will enhance the high wind potential. As the evening wears on we should see a squall line of strong to severe thunderstorms take shape just to our west and then march through the area.

Severe squall lines are generally accompanied by very strong straight line winds, and hail. Large tornadoes usually don't accompany squalls, however occasionally we get what are called 'gustnados". These are small short-lived tornadoes or funnel clouds that spin up right ahead of the line.

Now with all that said you should know by now that you'll need to have your NOAA All Hazards radio on standby Tuesday afternoon and through the night. With the spring severe weather season on our doorstep it would be a good time to review your family and business disaster plans. Everyone needs a to have a plan and be familiar with it.

The leading edge of this morning's line of storms had some pretty strong winds associated with them. Denton Municipal Airport had gusts to near 45 mph, Alliance airport had a 71 mph gust and Prosper's (Collin County) fire chief reported 7-8 barns and outbuildings sustained damage.
A communications tower east of Denton on U.S. Highway 380 blew over during the storm. Ted Ryan, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said the Fort Worth office also received a report of the communications tower being blown over.
Ryan believed straight-line winds caused the damage.
Structures can blow over even if the wind speed is lower than the structure's rating if the winds are different at the top than at the bottom, Ryan said.
There were no reports of tornadoes which isn't surprising as the atmosphere wasn't set up to produce them. This was most likely straight line wind damage which goes to show you that it doesn't take tornadoes to do damage. In fact straight line winds can cause more wide spread damage as they usually affect a larger area than a tornado. The atmosphere was setup for this type of wind storm as we had a very strong jetstream overhead. When showers and storms form in this setup the actual rain shafts can pull some of the strong jet winds down with them. Now that I think about it after looking at yesterdays upper air analysis I would bet that some microburst winds would have been possible. That would actually explain the more scattered nature of the wind damage reports. Whatever the cause, when you get caught in high winds it always seems to us that we must have experienced a tornado.

The national weather service will do an investigation (forensic meteorology) to determine what actually happened.

The back edge of the clouds are just to our west and we should begin to see clearing over the next few hours. It may get a bit windy this afternoon again, but our next chance of rain will come tomorrow afternoon and evening as another even stronger upper storms system moves over North Texas. We may be looking at a better potential for widespread severe weather at that time.

I'll post as more info comes in.

Taking a look outside via the TML Denton Skycam you can see the blue skies to the west.

Don't forget you have a window to look out of by way of the Denton Tree and Moss Laboratory. Click HERE for the most recent time-lapse of the skies above Denton.

Remember you can keep up with the latest real-time conditions in Denton by using the link below courtesy of the WeatherUnderground and WeatherToGolf,LLC.

Click here for Real time Denton weather conditions.

See the TML SkyCam live on the WeatherToGolf.Com weather page along with current radar shots and forecasts for Denton Texas.

Feel free to send me an email by clicking here.