Watching the Skies

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!