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8AM Update on Winter Weather Mischief; Brutally Cold Today!!

Pockets of light to locally heavier snow continues to fall across the southwestern Texas Panhandle with a lighter batch in the eastern/northeastern Texas Panhandle. We’ve seen a dusting up to around five inches locally of snow accumulation in the Panhandle overnight. Some roads are snow-covered and slick, so use caution. Temperatures will struggle to rise much today with a solid snow cover. Any melting that does occur on the roads will quickly refreeze as temperatures approach zero tonight. We also have light freezing drizzle in parts of South-Central and Central Texas, including San Antonio, Austin, to Bastrop. Some bridges are icy and accidents are reported.

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Now lets discuss the potential for winter weather today. We do now have a winter weather advisory along the Red River from Childress and Vernon east all the way along Highway 82 through Wichita Falls, St. Jo, Gainesville, Sherman, to Paris. The area of light snow now extending from Clovis to Tulia in West Texas will move east into the afternoon hours. Temperatures will be well below freezing, so the precipitation type will be all snow.

We’re anticipating about half an inch to one inch of snowfall along the Red River as that band moves east this afternoon. Temperatures are really quite cold, so this snow will easily accumulate on bridges, overpasses, and on secondary roads. We could even see some accumulation on main roads while the snow is falling. This won’t be a big-time winter storm, but some slick roads are certainly possible along the Red River all the way east through Northwest Texas, Texoma, into Northeast Texas as the snow moves through this afternoon.

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Here’s a simulated radar projection from the high resolution rapid refresh showing the snow’s progression this afternoon. Most snow will be light and won’t last more than two or three hours. At this time a few flurries will be possible as far south as the D/FW Metroplex, but travel impacts are not likely based on the current forecast. If the snow band’s projected path were to shift south a bit then we might see a few slick spots in the northern burbs of D/FW. Either way, this is NOT going to be a big winter storm in Northwest Texas, North Texas, Texoma, or Northeast Texas. A few slick spots are possible with more widespread slick spots along the Red River.

Temperatures will not get above freezing today along and north of the Permian Basin to Concho Valley to Hill Country to Central Texas to Northeast Texas. Midland, Abilene, D/FW, and Texarkana will not get above the 20s this afternoon. Wind chills will generally be about 10 to 15 degrees below the actual air temperature. It will be cold today, but the pipe-bursting cold arrives tonight. In the wake of today’s storm system we’ll see skies clear out, winds become light, and that all means the radiational cooling process will be rocking it.

Low temperatures near zero, with a few below zero, are expected in the Texas Panhandle and West Texas tonight. Single digit lows are possible in Northwest Texas, and we’ll have to keep an eye on any spots that have snow cover for these colder temperatures as well. I’m looking at you Texoma! Teens can be expected as far south as the Hill Country, Central Texas, into East Texas. These temperatures are easily cold enough to burst pipes, so leave your faucets dripping. The only part of Texas that should remain above freezing tonight is the Rio Grande Valley. Everyone else will likely be below freezing tonight. San Antonio and Houston will fall into the 20s. Corpus Christi will get down to around 29 to 30 degrees. Laredo will make it down to 31 degrees. Please remember to bring your pets indoors, make sure your elderly neighbors have heat, and keep an eye on your pipes! We’ll start to slowly warm up on Saturday, but very warm weather is expected next week. We’ll chat about that after we get through the winter weather mischief today.

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David Reimer

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