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RECORD HEAT AT DFW YESTERDAY

A record high temperature was recorded yesterday, May 15, 2022, at DFW Airport of 97°F. This breaks the old record of 94°F set in 1925. It is also the hottest temperature recorded so far this month. Record heat will continue to be possible through the next week.

MASSIVE UPDATE TO DFW WEATHER WEBSITE LAYOUT COMING SOON

The website will be undergoing major modification to its layout design in the coming weeks/months to enhance usability across devices. In order to do this, the website will need to come down at some point for these changes to occur. Down times will be posted well in advanced.

Also, while we are making this transition some data feeds and features may not work. For example, the weather alerts script is being changed, thus it is currently not working. For weather advisories/alerts, please see the advisories feature on the ZoomRadar located at the bottom of the home page.

***WINTER STORM TO AFFECT DFW AREA WED NIGHT AND THURSDAY***

A very strong Arctic cold front will move into Texas on Wednesday setting the stage for a winter storm Wednesday night into Thursday. Given the shallow nature of this Arctic airmass, we will likely be dealing with more ice than snow this time.

Early assessment of potential accumulations for the area (and these could be subject to change with the latest data) is that the Metroplex could see 0.10 to 0.25 of an inch of ice accretion followed by 0.5 to 1.5 inches of sleet accumulations with trace amounts of snow. These amounts would warrant a Winter Storm Watch/Warning. Keep in mind that these amounts rely heavily on expected precipitation type transitions. If temperatures drop below freezing quicker than currently forecast, these amounts could increase. If the subfreezing air is delayed, these amounts could be lower. Most of the Metroplex would not have to worry about frozen precipiation until around midnight Thursday morning, as it currently stands right now. With expected temperature forecasts, these amounts of ice/sleet would cause signficant disruptions to travel on all roadways. Expect travel difficulties into Friday, and perahaps Saturday for some, especially if accumulations are more than forecast.

This event is still several days out and things could still change. Please keep checking back for updates.

How cold will it get? To be clear, not as cold as last February (thankfully). However, guidance has trended a bit warmer this morning than it has been over the last several days. We do feel confident that Friday and Saturday mornings will be well down in the teens. Wind chill values will be in the single digits above and below zero at times.

DECEMBER 2021 IS THE HOTTEST ON RECORD BY A WIDE MARGIN

December 2021 has gone down in the records as the hottest December on record for DFW by a wide margin. The average temperature was a whopping 13°F degrees above normal. That is 7 plus degrees hotter than the old record hottest December set in 1933. In fact, December 2021 was so hot compared to averages that no other calendar month in our weather history has an average temperatue of 13 degrees above normal. December 2021 also produced the hottest Christmas on record of 82°F. The old record was 80°F set in 2016. The hottest temperature of the month was 83°F on December 10th. The coldest temperature was 32°F on December 12th. That is the first and only freeze at DFW Airport so far this winter season. The top 5 hottest Decembers for DFW are:

  1. December 2021
  2. December 1933
  3. December 2015
  4. December 1970
  5. December 1965

DFW RECORDS ITS FIST 100 DEGREE DAY FOR THE SUMMER OF 2021

Yesterday, the temperature officially reached 100°F at DFW Airport for the first time in 2021. This is pretty late in the year for a first 100 degree day, but not as late as the latest which was none in 1906 and 1973. The average first 100 degree day is usually on or around July 1st. We average 20 days a calendar year of 100 degrees or greater. The hottest temperature ever recorded at DFW is 113°F on June 26th and 27th of 1980, our hottest summer on record. In fact, temperatures of 110°F or greater are exceedingly rare and have only occurred 12 times in our history. Five of those occurrences were during the summer of 1980. We have only hit 110°F or greater twice during this century, once in 2000 and once in 2011.

The heat will continue the rest of this week and into next, but there are long range signs that the heat will be somewhat transient, and there may be a cool down and more rain headed our way. We will have to see how that plays out. Regardless of the heat this week, it still looks like the temperature anomalies will be too great to overcome so that July will be a slightly below normal month.

5TH COLDEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD AT DFW MAKES ABOVE NORMAL WINTER BELOW NORMAL

The severe cold spell that we had a couple of weeks ago had temperature anomalies so great that it made February the fifth coldest on record at DFW. In addition, prior to that, the 2020-2021 winter season was averaging 1.7°F above normal, and the cold spell turned an above normal winter below normal. Now the winter average is 1.8°F below normal.

The mean average temperature for February 2021 at DFW was 41.1°F a whopping 8.9°F below normal. The top five coldest Februarys in DFW history are as follows:

  1. February 1905
  2. February 1978
  3. February 1899
  4. February 1929
  5. February 2021

COLDEST IN 72 YEARS TODAY AT DFW

The official low this morning was -2°F. That is 2 degrees below zero. This shatters the daily record low for Feb 16th of 12°F set in 1903. This is 42 degrees below the normal low of 40°F for this date. The last time DFW dropped below zero was on December 23, 1989, and the temperature dropped to 1 below. You have to go all the way back to January 31, 1949 to get to the last time we were 2 below zero, a whopping 72 years ago. This makes the 5th time the mercury has dropped below zero at DFW. The other times were:

February 12, 1899: -8°F (all time coldest temperature at DFW)
January 18, 1930: -1°F
January 31, 1949: -2°F
December 23, 1989: -1°F
February 16, 2021: -2°F

In addition, the high of 18°F recorded at DFW today, also broke the daily record high temperature for Feb 16th. The previous record was 21°F also set in 1903.

RECORD BREAKING COLD FOR FEBRUARY 15, 2021 AT DFW

A new record low temperature and a new record low max temperature was observed at DFW Airport on February 15, 2021. A low of 4°F breaks the old record of 15°F set in 1909. A high of 14°F breaks the old low max high temperature for that date of 31°F set in 1909. It is also the third coldest high temperature in DFW history. The record is 12°F set on February 12, 1899.

VALENTINE’S DAY 2021 WEATHER RECORDS SET

A new daily low temperature of 9°F was set yesterday replacing the old record of 15°F set in 1936.

A new daily maximum low high temperature of 22°F was set yesterday replacing the old record of 27°F set in 1951.

A new daily maximum snow record of 4.00 inches was set replacing the old record of 3.00 inches set in 1951.

Yesterday’s snow officially breaks the near 6-year long snow drought. The longest in DFW history of not receiving significant snowfall.

Yesterday’s temperature of 9°F also ends the 25 year long streak of not ever falling below 10°F. The longest in DFW history. Climatology says we should be getting below 10°F every 5 years.

We will have official snow totals a bit a later.