Winter Storm!

I hope you all are having a great Friday!  Winter has finally made a strong comeback, and things are going to get very interesting late this weekend into early next week.  Cold air is currently draining into Texas and Oklahoma.  Tomorrow's high temperatures will range from 28-32 in Oklahoma, while north Texas will struggle to reach the mid 30's.  Lows will be very cold too, ranging from the teens in Oklahoma to low 20's in north Texas.  (Windchills in northern/central Oklahoma will be close to -5!)  Sunday a system that's currently on the west coast will begin to impact our area.  This system will aid in warm/moist air will overriding the cold-dome creating precipitation.  Initially temperatures will be cold enough for light wintry precip across parts of north Texas and all of southern Oklahoma.  North Texas and southern Oklahoma will see light sleet/rain slowly transition to rain overnight Sunday into Monday; however, central/eastern/northern Oklahoma will see a more prolonged period of winter precip likely starting as snow Sunday evening before transitioning to a sleet/freezing drizzle event during Monday.  Accumulations appear to be relatively light due to marginal temperatures and light precip, but parts of central/northern/eastern Oklahoma could pick up 1-3" with isolated 4" amounts.  The frozen precip will likely impact travel Monday morning in Oklahoma.  Please continue to check back as this forecast will need to be fine tuned.  The snow maps below are preliminary and will be adjusted as needed.  (Some adjustment of precip to the north/south may be needed.  A temperature difference of 1-2 degrees could totally change the "ballgame.")  Keep in mind that this event is a couple days out and a lot can change over the next several hours!  Please share this to spread the word on the possibility of winter weather impacting parts of the area.  We have winter weather safety tips as well as definitions at http://www.primoweather.com/winter.html   



Winter Is Not Over!

The warm weather that we in the Southern Plains have recently experienced has many people optimistic that spring has arrived; however, winter is not over, yet!  A stiff north wind has ushered in cooler weather today and the upcoming week won't be nearly as warm as last week.  Tuesday afternoon into early Wednesday morning could get interesting for those who live in the Oklahoma/Texas Panhandle and also across northern Oklahoma.  A shortwave, currently over the Rockies, is slowly getting its act together and will push eastward on Tuesday.  The shortwave won't have much moisture to work with, which is what will keep precip very light.  This system will begin to impact northwest Oklahoma Tuesday afternoon.  Light rain will develop with this system, but the rain will quickly turn to snow.  As aforementioned, the moisture content will be meager, but enough forcing will squeeze out some snow.  Generally locations north of I-40 have the best shot at seeing some light snow Tuesday night, probably no more than a dusting, while locations in the northern Panhandle could get 1-2" of snow.

Please keep in mind that this system is a few days out, so a lot can and will change in regards to this system.  If more moisture comes into play, or the system is a little bit stronger than currently forecast, then snow totals could be higher.  With that said, if less moisture is available then only high clouds or flurries could be seen.  Looking out towards the end of the upcoming week, Friday-Saturday, a Baja system looks to impact the area.  I don't want to get into too many details, but parts of Texas and southern Oklahoma could get some more precip; we will have to keep a close eye on temperatures as a cold front oozes southward...

Severe Weather!

Here's the latest discussion from our friends at "Texoma Storm Chasers!" Go check them out and like them on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/TexomaStormChasers)

Latest NAM model run valid 00Z/6pm CST Thursday February 02, 2012 shows a potent Severe Weather setup for the NW Texas area into SW Oklahoma. ATTM the area of Greatest Interest looks to be generally from Haskell-Abilene, Texas. In this area CAPE values look to be maximized in the 1250-1500 J/kg range, with decent Lift Indicies along a sharpening slowly eastward advancing Dryline. As large scale acsent approaches the region, a 40-55 knt jet at 500 mb coupled with a strong SE Surface flow will promote strong Directional/Speed Shear, as charactorized by large clockwise curved Hodographs, creating an environment that will become increasingly favorable for the development of Surface Based T-Storms, including Supercells. If a Supercell can become organized and rooted within the Boundry Layer (where LCL's are forecasted to be 1000m or less in the above mentioned region), all facets of Severe Weather would be possible: Large Hail, Damaging Winds as well as a couple of Isolated Tornadoes during the late evening/early nighttime hours.