Winter weather may be a bit delayed from forecasts 24 hours ago, but parts of the metroplex may still see ice, sleet, and snow today. Currently the freezing line stretches from Weatherford, to Decatur, to Montague. This freezing air will slowly filter towards the east and generate hazardous driving conditions for the afternoon, thru Saturday mid-day. Looks like Frisco will be right on this freezing line as of 2pm, so expect ice accumulation on bridges and other exposed areas first, followed by sleet/snow accumulation on other areas later tonight. There is a possibility of maybe an inch of sleet to snow accumulation. While during the day today I would not expect any significant accumulation, tonight the temperature will drop significantly towards 23 degrees and any water will likely freeze to the ground quickly. Pay attention to bridges during the day, and be very careful while driving tonight on all area roads after sundown.
…Winter Weather Advisory in effect until 6 PM CST this
evening…
The National Weather Service in Fort Worth has issued a Winter
Weather Advisory for sleet and snow…which is in effect until 6
PM CST this evening.
Temperatures will continue to fall to near or below freezing
by the early afternoon hours. At the same time…an upper level
disturbance will approach from the west and provide lift for
precipitation. Precipitation is expected to transition from light
rain or freezing rain…to sleet and snow by early afternoon. Snow
and sleet accumulations of one to two inches are possible in the
advisory area through 6 PM.
A Winter Weather Advisory means that periods of winter
precipitation may cause travel difficulties. Be prepared for
slippery roads and plan on some travel delays.
Some accumulations of snow are possible…especially on elevated
surfaces. Bridges and overpasses will be the first locations where
icy spots may develop…travel with caution.
A line of strong to severe thunderstorms is moving through the region at 50mph from the west. These storms are producing very strong winds exceeding 60mph along with some pea to dime sized hail. Storms are currently stretching from Cleburne, to Fort Worth, to Decatur. These storms will reach Denton by 3:50pm, Frisco and Dallas by 4:25pm. These storms are also producing some lightning… in the unlikely event that you are conducting any outdoor activities now, then prepare for this storm. North Central Texas is also under a Severe Thunderstorm Watch until 7:00pm, this watch includes Dallas and Tarrant counties, but not Collin or Denton.
A strong winter storm is set to affect the southern plains late this week, bringing heavy snow to the Texas panhandle and all of Oklahoma. This same storm system will affect north Texas as well with heavy rains likely, and winter precipitation possible.
Thursday afternoon through midnight will bring rainfall as warm moist air transports northward interacting with an approaching cold front. Heavy rains are likely for the second half of Thursday and flooding of low areas may be a concern.
As the front passes through, a slow transition phase will begin around Thursday midnight thru Friday morning. Rainfall will begin to slow and likely switch to just a light freezing rain for Friday morning thru mid-day. Temperatures for Friday will remain very cold with highs barely escaping freezing, topping out near 35 degrees. Winds will also pick up, wind chills will dip into the teens again, so wear a heavy coat. Cloud cover forecasts for the day Friday are a bit hard to determine, but as of right now the official forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies. This means icing will probably be something to consider Friday thru Saturday. Snowfall is still possible across the area Friday mid-day thru early afternoon, but the rain/mix/snow line will be right across our region and makes this somewhat hard to forecast specifically. The specific track of this low pressure system will have a great influence on our weather… if the low tracks 30 miles south of the forecast then we get snow, if it tracks to the north then we get rain only. I will provide updates if needed.
In any event, I would plan for winter precipitation with icing being the major factor for Friday morning. The icing problem will likely persist through Saturday mid-day.
Temperatures Friday will not exceed 35 degrees, with lows Saturday morning reaching 20 degrees. Saturday will remain cold with highs around 40. Sunday morning temps will be around 25 degrees, afternoon temps warm slightly up to 47. Another chance of rain will occur on Sunday evening thru Monday, but no winter weather or severe weather is forecast at this time. So its looking like the best day this weekend will be Sunday in the afternoon. Otherwise icing, windy and cold conditions will deter most outdoor activities.
As always if anything interesting or substantial changes, I will send out an update!
Hey everyone, its been awhile but there also hasn't been much interesting weather in the region until now. Today the eastern half of north Texas is under a 'Slight' risk for severe storms, with the best risk being severe hail. Storms are capable of developing anytime after 3pm when an atmospheric cap erodes, but with the thick cloud cover these storms may not initiate until around 6pm. Best chances of severe storms exist along and east of I-35, which includes Frisco. For our region, the risks include a minimal tornado risk at 2% risk, severe wind risk at 15%, and severe hail risk at 30%.
Hey folks, a significant arctic cold air blast will impact the area beginning tonight around midnight and last through Sunday at least. Air temperatures will fall as low as 11 to 14 degrees around the metroplex, with wind chills below zero! Freezing rain is also possible Wednesday night thru very early Thursday morning.
The arctic cold front originating from as far away as Siberia will plunge through the area late tonight around midnight, sending winds of 10-15mph and temperatures dropping to 22 degrees by sunrise. Freezing rain is possible in a narrow window overnight from maybe midnight to 3am? This could make for some patchy areas of ice on the roadways for Thursday. Temps will struggle to increase during the day, never exceeding 27 degrees. Overnight clear skies will promote strong radiational cooling and temperatures will drop as low as around 11 degrees to the north, 14 in and just south of the metroplex. Winds at this time will create very hazardous wind chill values below zero!
This cold air will persist on Friday as well, with highs once again not exceeding the freezing mark.Temperatures on Saturday will struggle to reach freezing, and very well could remain below freezing for the entire day on Saturday as well. Sunday will begin to warm up a bit with lows around 27, highs of 45.
Bundle up everyone, this is likely to be the coldest weather in the metroplex since January 2005!
Todays forecast calls for small areas of light rain, occasionally mixing with snow across parts of the Red River valley and northwest parts of north Texas. Snowfall would be very light, so no accumulations are expected at this time. Snowfall is not likely in Frisco or the DFW Metroplex, and if any occurs itll likely not impact travel since it will be very light. Rain is probable today however, with widespread slight showers across the region. Temperatures during the day should remain above freezing, then drop below freezing around midnight. The cloud cover will likely linger around for the entire day until around midnight when skies will turn partly cloudy.
Forecast for midnight new years eve calls for temps around 32 degrees dropping to 27 by 6am, partly cloudy skies, winds around 10mph from the NNW and no precipitation. This means conditions should be good enough to be outside when the clock strikes 12, but not ideal due to the cold and wind. Since tonight is a 'blue moon', any moon photography should be decent but not ideal due to high humidity and partly cloudy skies.
Record snowfall today at DFW Airport of 0.2 inches, breaking the previous record of a trace.
…Record daily maximum snowfall set at Dallas/Fort Worth…
A record snowfall of 0.2 inches was set at dfw Airport today. This
is the first measurable snowfall on record for December 29. Trace
snowfall amounts were previously recorded on this date in 1925…
1954…and 1969.
Hey folks… we may see another bout of snowfall to most of north Texas on Tuesday during the day. Current forecasts place us right around within a few degrees of freezing at the start of the event, and just below through the evening and night. This means for around an hour or so Tuesday, the precipitation may fall as rain then transition to snow. Since the ground has been chilled significantly from the Christmas Eve snowfall, there is a chance this precipitation could freeze to open surfaces quicker than it did last week. This means another round of dangerous ice wide spread throughout the area.
Extended forecasts beyond Thursday get a little more difficult. Northern areas may see some light snow flurries on Thursday. Things should dry out and warm up slightly beyond Thursday, for the weekend. Extended forecasts have continuously warned about an extremely frigid air mass that will descend from Siberia, across northern Canada and impact the United States. There are significant discrepancies in this forecast now, but the weather service is concerned about this possibility. If this unfolds as forecast now, we may be looking at significant cold weather, record setting even. Timing on this would likely be maybe 9-10 days out, or sometime after January 5.
I’ll send updates as needed.
Fairly heavy snowfall across parts of north Texas, with at least half of north Texas receiving some type of snowfall. Heaviest accumulations in the region occurred in northwest Texas near Bowie and Jacksboro with 9 inches of snowfall! Area roads have been completely shut down for most of the night.
Road conditions will remain trecherous through the first half of Christmas day as accumulated ice slowly melts off. However drier weather and temperatures rising just above freezing should help most of the ice and snow to melt away. There will still be some icy patches on the roads overnight tonight however.
Temps through the weekend will remain cool, dropping below freezing every night, rising to the low to mid 40s during the day.
The next storm system is still expected to move through this upcoming Tuesday, and may bring chances of more winter precipitation. A rain/snow mix may occur north of I-20, while a rain/sleet mix may occur south of I-20. This forecast is subject to large changes however, with several days out till this next event, there is some uncertainty.
Update: 5:56pm – Visiblele satellite shows the large extent of snowfall coverage across the region. A friend also advised me while traveling along I-35 north twards Oklahoma City, that at least 142 cars were stranded along the road!
DFW Airport reported 3.0 inches of snowfall As of 6:29pm 12/24/09, DFW Airport recorded 2.3 inches of snowfall, far exceeding the previous record for this date of a trace. Snowfall is starting to end across the metroplex and should be over by 9 to 10pm in all areas. Temperatures are forecast to drop to the low 20s across the region so any ice or snow accumulations in place now, will persist all night until Christmas day. Temps on Christmas day will rise above freezing in the afternoon, allowing the snow/ice to mostly melt off.
Road conditions around the region are in horrible shape. Numerous roads to our north and west have been closed including I-35 through most of Oklahoma. In fact, all interstates in the Oklahoma City metro area have been shut down for most of the afternoon.
I will send more complete updates after the snowfall ends and additional weather reports come in… Below is most recent daily climate report from DFW Airport:
CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
629 PM CST THU DEC 24 2009
...................................
...THE DALLAS FORT WORTH CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 24 2009...
VALID TODAY AS OF 600 PM LOCAL TIME.
CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1971 TO 2000
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1898 TO 2009
WEATHER ITEM OBSERVED TIME RECORD YEAR NORMAL DEPARTURE LAST
VALUE (LST) VALUE VALUE FROM YEAR
NORMAL
..................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
TODAY
MAXIMUM 53 113 AM 88 1955 55 -2 57
MINIMUM 29 626 PM 7 1983 35 -6 39
AVERAGE 41
PRECIPITATION (IN)
TODAY 0.42 1.41 1975 0.08 0.34 0.00
MONTH TO DATE 1.49 2.04 -0.55 0.12
SINCE DEC 1 1.49 2.04 -0.55 0.12
SINCE JAN 1 40.53 34.20 6.33 26.95
SNOWFALL (IN)
TODAY 2.3 R T 2002 0.0 2.3 0.0
1975
1943
MONTH TO DATE 2.3 T 2.3 T
SINCE DEC 1 2.3 T 2.3 T
SINCE JUL 1 2.3 0.2 2.1 T
SNOW DEPTH 0
..................................................................
WIND (MPH)
HIGHEST WIND SPEED 38 HIGHEST WIND DIRECTION NW (310)
HIGHEST GUST SPEED 46 HIGHEST GUST DIRECTION NW (300)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED 20.4
..........................................................
THE DALLAS FORT WORTH CLIMATE NORMALS FOR TOMORROW
NORMAL RECORD YEAR
MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE (F) 55 78 1934
1922
MINIMUM TEMPERATURE (F) 35 6 1983
SUNRISE AND SUNSET
DECEMBER 24 2009......SUNRISE 728 AM CST SUNSET 527 PM CST
DECEMBER 25 2009......SUNRISE 729 AM CST SUNSET 528 PM CST
- INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.
Update as of 7:49pm: DFW Airport now reports 3.0 inches of snowfall so far today:
...Record daily maximum snowfall set at Dallas/Fort Worth...
A record snowfall of 3.0 inches was set at dfw Airport today. This
is the first measurable snowfall on record for Christmas eve. Trace
snowfall amounts were previously recorded on December 24 in 1924...
1926...1943...1975...and 2002.
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