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On This Day in 2004: Snow Disrupts Valentine's Day in Northern Texas
October 10, 2025 at 11:34 AM EDT
By WeatherBug Meteorologist, Alyssa Robinette
On this day 20 years ago, a winter storm swept through northern Texas, causing major disruptions for Valentine’s Day plans.
The catalyst of this snowstorm was warm, moist air moving over a deep, Arctic cold air mass at the surface. Cold Arctic air was in place for several days leading up to Valentine’s Day when a slow-moving upper-level low pressure system would move through the southern Plains February 13th into February 14th. Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico was lifted northwards into the southern Plains, resulting in widespread heavy snow. There was even some sleet mixed in at times.
Leading up to Valentine’s Day, predicting the exact amounts of snow proved tricky as there was considerable uncertainty in the forecast track of this low pressure. Snowfall amounts of 1 to 4 inches looked likely throughout northern Texas and the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. When all was said and done, parts of northern Texas and southern Oklahoma picked up locally higher amounts up to 6 inches! This includes areas just to the north of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area.
Valentine’s Day of 2004 ended up having the greatest snowfall in Dallas since 1978! Flight delays and cancellations, numerous traffic accidents and many power outages occurred because of this storm. Most of the snow did melt on many roadways given temperatures remaining at or just below freezing. However, icy bridges and overpasses were the main concern. The snow also wreaked havoc with Valentine’s Day flower deliveries. The snow was perfect though for building snowmen and snowballs.
Source: NWS
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Image: Valentine's Day snowstorm in Texas on February 14, 2004. (National Weather Service)
The catalyst of this snowstorm was warm, moist air moving over a deep, Arctic cold air mass at the surface. Cold Arctic air was in place for several days leading up to Valentine’s Day when a slow-moving upper-level low pressure system would move through the southern Plains February 13th into February 14th. Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico was lifted northwards into the southern Plains, resulting in widespread heavy snow. There was even some sleet mixed in at times.
Leading up to Valentine’s Day, predicting the exact amounts of snow proved tricky as there was considerable uncertainty in the forecast track of this low pressure. Snowfall amounts of 1 to 4 inches looked likely throughout northern Texas and the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. When all was said and done, parts of northern Texas and southern Oklahoma picked up locally higher amounts up to 6 inches! This includes areas just to the north of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area.
Valentine’s Day of 2004 ended up having the greatest snowfall in Dallas since 1978! Flight delays and cancellations, numerous traffic accidents and many power outages occurred because of this storm. Most of the snow did melt on many roadways given temperatures remaining at or just below freezing. However, icy bridges and overpasses were the main concern. The snow also wreaked havoc with Valentine’s Day flower deliveries. The snow was perfect though for building snowmen and snowballs.
Source: NWS
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Image: Valentine's Day snowstorm in Texas on February 14, 2004. (National Weather Service)