What is Fort Worth ‘Stock Show weather’? Here’s what to know about the chilly phenomenon

As the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo returns this weekend, so does the term “Stock Show weather.”

While not an official term in any dictionary, the phrase has been repeated by many during the annual 23-day event. A combination of frigid temperatures during Fort Worth’s winter season and the stock show’s mid-January to early February window, means that most Stock Show events are particularly chilly.

“They just call this ‘Stock Show weather,’” Fort Worth resident Randall Brown told the Star-Telegram at the rainy and cold stock show parade in 2017.

The Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo kicks off Friday, Jan. 17, and runs until Feb. 8.

This year’s Stock Show is the 128th in event history, which started in 1896. The show has only been canceled twice in its entire history, once in 1943 for World War II and in 2021 for the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Stock Show weather” will continue this year as an arctic front arrives in North Texas this weekend, bringing lower temperatures in the 10s and 20s heading into next week.

How cold is ‘Stock Show weather’?

Using climate data from the National Weather Service Fort Worth, here’s a look back at the coldest temperatures from each Stock Show run since 2000. The Stock Show in 2024 was the coldest of the years surveyed.

2020s

• Jan. 12- Feb. 3, 2024: 11 degrees on Jan. 15
• Jan. 13- Feb. 4, 2023: 25 degrees on Jan. 31
• Jan. 14- Feb. 5, 2022: 19 degrees on Feb. 5
• Jan. 17- Feb. 8, 2020: 28 degrees on Feb. 6

2010s

• Jan. 18- Feb. 9, 2019: 23 degrees on Feb. 8
• Jan. 12- Feb. 3, 2018: 13 degrees on Jan. 17
• Jan. 13- Feb. 4, 2017: 33 degrees on Jan. 26-27
• Jan. 15- Feb. 6, 2016: 27 degrees on Jan. 18 and Jan. 23
• Jan. 16- Feb. 7, 2015: 24 degrees on Feb. 2
• Jan. 17- Feb. 8, 2014: 16 degrees on Jan. 29
• Jan. 18- Feb. 9, 2013: 29 degrees on Feb. 1
• Jan. 13- Feb. 4, 2012: 26 degrees on Jan. 13
• Jan. 14- Feb. 5, 2011: 13 degrees on Feb. 2
• Jan. 15- Feb. 7, 2010: 26 degrees on Jan. 30

2000s

• Jan. 16- Feb. 8, 2009: 20 degrees on Jan. 28
• Jan. 11- Feb. 3, 2008: 22 degrees on Feb. 1
• Jan. 12- Feb. 4, 2007: 22 degrees on Feb. 3
• Jan. 13- Feb. 5, 2006: 30 degrees on Jan. 14
• Jan. 14- Feb. 6, 2005: 22 degrees on Jan. 17
• Jan. 17- Feb. 8, 2004: 23 degrees on Jan. 27
• Jan. 11- Feb. 2, 2003: 17 degrees on Jan. 24
• Jan. 12- Feb. 3, 2002: 27 degrees on Feb. 2
• Jan. 19, Feb. 4, 2001: 19 degrees on Jan. 20
• Jan. 21- Feb. 6, 2000: 23 degrees on Jan. 30

This story was originally published January 16, 2025 at 5:17 PM.

Brayden Garcia

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Brayden Garcia is a service journalism reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He is part of a team of local journalists who answer reader questions and write about life in North Texas. Brayden mainly writes about weather and all things Taylor Sheridan-related.