Saturday, December 24, 2011

Cold, Sloppy Mess Across Texas; Snow Flying Out West this Christmas Eve...


A broad area of light snow continues to fall across westcentral and now parts of northwest Texas, where it is mixing at times with freezing rain or drizzle and some sleet.  It has also been snowing most of the night across far southeast and part of east-central New Mexico.


A Winter Storm Warning is in effect for the pink shaded areas on the above image today, with a Winter Weather Advisory for the tan shaded areas.  The warning includes Roswell, Carlsbad, Hobbs and Odessa.  The advisory includes Abilene, Lubbock, Midland, San Angelo and Plainview.

A zoom-in on the Midland area radar shows a swath of light with some occasionally moderate snow across the region:


The latest run of the HRRR high resolution computer forecast model is calling for a swath of 3-4 inch snow with localized amounts of 6-8 inches across southeast New Mexico and into extreme west-central Texas.  The image below is the snow accumulation forecast valid at 3pm CST this afternoon:


Light snow is likely to move and/or develop into parts of northwest Texas this afternoon and evening, with a dusting to 1 inch possible in those areas by early Christmas morning, as indicated on the latest run of the GFS model's snow depth forecast valid 6am CST on Christmas morning:


Folks with any travel plans across west-central or northwest Texas into southeast New Mexico should use caution and allow plenty of extra time to reach their destinations.

Meanwhile, out ahead of the wintry weather, widespread drizzle, light rain and showers are breaking out across much of the central and eastern two-thirds of Texas this morning:


Rain will continue to increase in areal coverage throughout the day today and into at least the first half of tonight.  Widespread rainfall amounts of one half to one inch are likely through 6am CST on Christmas morning, mainly within the darker green and blue shaded areas on the image below:


As temperatures fall and an upper-level weather disturbance moves over the Hill Country to the West of I-35 tonight, it is possible for some flurries or very light snow to mix with the rain at times after midnight (in the Hill Country), however no accumulation is expected.


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