Texas winter weather thread #2 - winter weather on Friday?

[Extremeweatherguy]

[wall_cloud]

WSW going out for Amarillo. 2 inches of snow on the ground here right now

[Portastorm]

Oh EWG, I bet this line just kills you ... from Houston's late evening forecast discussion update:

"WILL ONLY MAKE MINOR ADJUSTMENTS TO THE FORECAST AT THIS TIME."

I feel for ya buddy ... but don't worry, I think before this winter is over, you'll get some action.

[wall_cloud]

can you say inversion?

[Extremeweatherguy]

Oh EWG, I bet this line just kills you ... from Houston's late evening forecast discussion update:

"WILL ONLY MAKE MINOR ADJUSTMENTS TO THE FORECAST AT THIS TIME."

I feel for ya buddy ... but don't worry, I think before this winter is over, you'll get some action.

the thing that bothers me is that the AFD tonight is STILL being made by Lake Charles. I really hope the Houston guys get back here soon! I fear we may not see any watches, warnings or advisories until they do. At this point I am very surprised a Wind Advisory is not out for us since gusts to 40mph look likely tomorrow afternoon.

I also think winter advisories should be out for northern counties.

This is really a strange occurance with the Houston NWS today. I have never seen them be gone this long.

Also: Our forecast tonight is basically an unchanged version of this morning's forecast (from 4am). This leads me to believe that Lake Charles isn't even making many of their own changes, and Houston likely isn't either. It is very weird.

[wall_cloud]

EWG, not all offices are the same as far as advisory criteria, but I don't know of an office that will issue a Wind Advisory for gusts. just sustained wind speeds. And I'm sure if the LCH guys (and gals) feel they need a WWA, they'll issue it. I really don't think they would pass the buck if it needs to be done.

[GalvestonDuck]

Hmph, I still have my A/C on.

I'll probably turn it off tomorrow morning when I leave for work...and probably not turn it back on when I come home 12 hours later.

[jasons2k]

40 mph gusts? Since when? Maybe offshore where there are marine advisories but I haven't seen anything of the sort forecasted for the zones.

[Extremeweatherguy]

EWG, not all offices are the same as far as advisory criteria, but I don't know of an office that will issue a Wind Advisory for gusts. just sustained wind speeds. And I'm sure if the LCH guys (and gals) feel they need a WWA, they'll issue it. I really don't think they would pass the buck if it needs to be done.

It is just strange because Austin and Corpus Christi both have wind advisories and offshore they are under a gale warning. Usually in that type of setup, we too would have a wind advisory.

[hurrican19]

oh how bad he wants it to sleet/snow/rain/hail/tornado/high winds/whatever else weather will provide. But who doesn't around here in setx. I work out in the weather daily, guess I may be in for some suprises.

[wall_cloud]

HGX might have slightly higher wind speed criterion.

[Extremeweatherguy]

40 mph gusts? Since when? Maybe offshore where there are marine advisories but I haven't seen anything of the sort forecasted for the zones.

The Corpus Christi NWS is calling for 25-35mph winds over their area tomorrow with gusts to 45mph near the coast. I don't see why it would be that way down there and not up here. That wouldn't really make sense would it? Also, our discussions from Lake Charles keep calling for very windy conditions, yet no lake wind or wind advisory has been issued.

From Corpus Christi NWS:

WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 25 TO 35 MPH ACROSS MOST
OF SOUTH TEXAS BEFORE NOON ON THURSDAY. GUSTS NEAR THE COAST AND
ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE COASTAL PLAINS MAY REACH AS HIGH AS 40 TO
45 MPH AT TIMES LATE THURSDAY MORNING AND INTO THE AFTERNOON.

From the Houston discussion this afternoon:

THE BLUE NORTHERS BEHIND THE FRONT WILL BE ON THE STRONG SIDE. A
WIND ADVISORY WILL LIKELY BE REQUIRED.

They even said an advisory would be needed earlier, yet it has not been issued as of yet.

[jasons2k]

Hmph, I still have my A/C on.

I'll probably turn it off tomorrow morning when I leave for work...and probably not turn it back on when I come home 12 hours later.

Hey Duckie! Funny you say that! I was showing my wife the front/temps in the Metroplex and told her to get ready - and almost on cue - the AC came on. She looks over and says "umm, honey, isn't that the AC? And should we turn it off?" ... I told her I would switch it over to the furnace when we woke-up.

[jasons2k]

EWG: Oh yeah, that whole "Blue Northers" quote threw me off. I still chuckle when I see that....

Strange though, the ZFP still says "South wind 10 to 20 mph becoming northwest. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph" tomorrow. Not criteria range.

Also, winds in N. Texas behind the front are generally in the 15-20 mph range with gusts 25-30 - not criteria range yet...

Time for bed, see you guys tomorrow on the flip side

[Portastorm]

Hey wall_cloud, I was just reading the SPS from Amarillo and I see language about snow drifts up to one foot in your area ... the phrase "snow drifts" ... you don't see that too often in Texas!

[Lindaloo]

Good gosh look at the change in temps. Absolutely amazing!

[Yankeegirl]

I am so jealous of you guys in north Texas!!

[Extremeweatherguy]

If you look at the radar at the top of the page...you can really see the freezing precip. starting to build in on the back edge of the precipitation. Looks like some sleet/frz. rain is even extending into parts of north central TX at this time.

[Extremeweatherguy]

Latest GFS MOS guidance is showing IAH down to 36F by about 6pm tomorrow with an overnight low of 32F.

[Extremeweatherguy]

For the last 4 hours...Ft. Worth has consistantly dropped 1F each hour. They are now down to 35F at 11pm under overcast skies with a dewpoint of 32F and a wind-chill of 26F. Dallas is also down to 37F right now (at the Intl. airport) with wind gusts to 31mph, wind-chills near 26F and rain/fog/mist.

Also...the cold front has just reached WACO and they went from 70F to 46F in one hour! That is yet another 24-degree one hour drop behind the front. Seems like 24-degrees is the magic number at most stations as far as the one hour drop.

Also, is it just me or is that low pressure area a lot further south than forecast?



UPDATE: actually that weather.com map is different from the HPC's map. Either way though...the HPC map is interesting too. It shows 4 low pressure areas right now and some of them are pretty far south:

http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/sfc/satsfcnps.gif