Will Dallas-Fort Worth see freezing temps this weekend? Here’s what one meteorologist says
A cold front moving into North Texas early Sunday will lower temperatures significantly, but will it be cold enough for the first freeze of the season?
Not really, said Miles Langfeld, meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Fort Worth office.
“We could see some lows dip into the 30s, but it doesn’t look like we’re gonna get to freezing right now,” Langfeld said.
By Sunday night and into Monday, highs ares expected to be in the 50s and lows could be in the 30s and 40s, he said. It likely won’t get cold enough for Dallas-Fort Worth to get freezing temperatures, but. if you’re going trick-or-treating Tuesday night, be sure to bring a coat.
But pegging precise temperature readings will be a challenge. “The uncertainty in the movement of the front will make the temperature forecast quite challenging,” according to a forecasters chat on the NWS website Thursday.
After enduring a brutal stretch of 100-degree days this summer, the rain this week and cooler temperatures in the past few weeks have been a blessing. Freezing temperatures can be a danger to those unprepared for the cold. A deadly icy pileup on I-35W in February 2021 involving 130 cars, trucks and semis left six people dead — changing the lives of hundreds including rescuers who rushed to the scene just north of downtown Fort Worth.
When is average first freeze of the season in North Texas?
On average, North Texas doesn’t see its first freeze of the season until Nov. 22 and last freeze of the season until March 12.
The NWS measures the freeze season by consecutive years, starting in the latter months of the year and going into the spring of next year. For example, whenever North Texas records its first freeze in the next couple months, it will be for the 2023-2024 season.
What’s the earliest recorded freeze in North Texas?
Nearly 125 years ago, the earliest first freeze of the season ever recorded in North Texas by NWS was on Oct. 22, 1898. The mercury dropped to a brisk 31 degrees that Saturday morning.
At the time, William McKinley was serving as the 25th President of the United States. In sports, only the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, better known now simply the National League, was in existence and the American League wouldn’t form until 1901.
The first freeze in Dallas-Fort Worth over the last 10 years
Over the last decade, November has been the sweet spot for the first freeze of the season in North Texas:
- 2022-2023: 30 degrees on Nov. 20
- 2021-2022: 32 degrees on Dec. 12
- 2020-2021: 32 degrees on Nov. 30
- 2019-2020: 30 degrees on Oct. 31
- 2018-2019: 32 degrees on Nov. 10
- 2017-2018: 32 degrees on Dec. 7
- 2016-2017: 28 degrees on Dec. 8
- 2015-2016: 30 degrees on Nov. 22
- 2014-2015: 31 degrees on Nov. 12
- 2013-2014: 29 degrees on Nov. 13
This story was originally published October 26, 2023 at 7:27 AM.
