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Temperatures fell nearly 20 degrees in two hours Thursday as a cold front blew through Tarrant County and into east Texas.
The temperature at Meacham Field in Fort Worth dropped from 77 degrees at 9:53 a.m. to 59 at 11:53 a.m., according to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth. It was 58 degrees at 7:30 p.m.A similar drop was recorded at DFW Airport where the temperature fell from 78 degrees to 63 between 10:53 a.m. and 12:53 p.m.The cold front brought early snow to the Rockies before blowing through Tarrant County with heavy rains at about 11 a.m.Fort Worth was spared some much-anticipated severe weather, and so were counties farther east, but some communities on the east side of the slow-moving front continued to be under severe weather watches late Thursday.The line of broken storms developed overnight in West Texas and lumbered east toward the Metroplex this morning.At the same time, there was a lot of instability in the upper atmosphere, setting the stage for a day of severe weather.Heavy rain, high winds, flash floods and possible tornadoes had been in the forecast for North Texas, according to the National Weather Service. But the front seemed to bring only heavy rain to Tarrant County, said Dan Shoemaker, a weather service meteorologist in Fort Worth.In its wake, however, only .04 inches was recorded at DFW Airport, while Mineral Wells had .53, Weatherford got .63 and Grand Prairie recorded .75, said Matt Mosier, also of the weather service.The storms probably lost a lot of energy as they entered North Texas because they were actually moving south to north along the cold front, which was pushing east, he explained.Those contrasting directions "undercut" the energy of the storms, Mosier said.Minor flooding, however, was not out of the question, but conditions did not indicate it would be widespread.A severe weather threat, however, still faced people living east and southeast of the Metroplex late Thursday. A heavy storm could be detected on radar around Lufkin at 7:30 p.m.The storm was moving northeast at 35 mph, and weather service radar indicated that it was packing heavy rain and 50 mph winds. The forecast included the possibility of tornadoes."The low-level environment is characterized by a lot of wind shear today," said Dennis Cavanaugh, another weather service meteorologist. "In general, the more wind shear you have, the more favorable the environment is to produce tornadoes."Gov. Rick Perry activated state search-and-rescue resources Thursday in response to the threat of severe weather and flooding.“Storms stretching across the state have created dangerous flash flood conditions that can form quickly, and I urge Texans in communities impacted by these storms to be cautious and pay attention to changing weather conditions,” Perry said in a statement.Back in North Texas, the overnight low should be in the 40s. Friday's highs should be in the 50s, but the Halloween weekend is expected to be nice.
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