Texas Winter 2013-2014

[TeamPlayersBlue]

This warming of temps as the precip falls through the layer is nothing ive noticed before. Fascinating. I think the same may be occurring a bit here in Austin. Eventually that layer cools down a bit as a net effect i would believe. Not entirely sure. I can hear the precip falling outside still, i think its that water running off the apt though

[SouthernMet]

We weren't exaggerating when we said "crippling".. You can hear police sirens going to respond to wrecks, & literally see the sky light up with transformers blowing up...

Btw that band along a Mineral Wells to Stephenville line, reportedly thundersleet & this is heading straight for the dfw metro as it strengthens.

[SouthernMet]

This is becoming a very dangerous situation here esp North of 1-20..

Oncor now reporting 135K without power in the dfw metro with a long way to go with moderate precip, sub freezing temps & winds gusting to 30mph

[TeamPlayersBlue]

All that sleet is going to keep your daytime temps very cold too. Not to mention what its going to be at night.

[Ntxwx]

Emergency situation here in Wise county, roads have been impassible for hours, many accidents, a lot of damage due to falling trees, heard pipes are freezing up, state of emergency needs to be declared, if there isn't one already.

[SouthernMet]

Emergency situation here in Wise county, roads have been impassible for hours, many accidents, a lot of damage due to falling trees, heard pipes are freezing up, state of emergency needs to be declared, if there isn't one already.

News is already dubbing it "Icemaggeden" the Ice version of the crippling storm of 2011..

[TeamPlayersBlue]

Unreal what you guys are going through, sleet is better than FRZ Rain though. There is a big blog of moisture coming in from Mexico with somebodys name on it. I want to see what that will look like when it reaches the state.

[SouthernMet]

Fort Worth reporting 25 degrees with moderate sleet & winds gusting to 29mph.

Oncor update : 150K in dfw metro without power.

Believe it or not - cloud to ground lightning & extremely low visibilities just south of Weatherford reported via twitter & spotters

[srainhoutx]

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
516 AM CST FRI DEC 6 2013

TXZ145-061145-
HILL TX-
516 AM CST FRI DEC 6 2013

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR...
NORTHWESTERN HILL COUNTY

AT 514 AM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS DETECTED A
THUNDERSTORM 14 MILES NORTHEAST OF CLIFTON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45
MPH.

A PERIOD OF HEAVY SLEET...MIXED WITH FREEZING RAIN...WILL ACCOMPANY
THIS STORM AS IT MOVES THROUGH HILL COUNTY.

CITIES IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE CARL'S CORNER...COVINGTON...
ITASCA...WHITNEY AND LAKE WHITNEY STATE PARK.

[SouthernMet]

From NWS/FTW :

LEADING EDGE OF HEAVIER PRECIP
HAS A BIT OF INSTABILITY AND CLOUD TO CLOUD LIGHTNING IS
OCCURRING. HAVE ADDED ISOLATED THUNDER TO THE GRIDS ALONG THE
LEADING EDGE OF OF THE PRECIP BANDS UNTIL AFTER SUNRISE. AS THE
SHORT WAVE EXITS THE AREA THE PRECIP WILL END FROM WEST TO EAST
TODAY...WITH ALL PRECIP EAST OF THE AREA BY 6 PM.

[opticsguy]

far N. Dallas here. Woken by tree branch falling on house at 3:45. No power since 1:30 or so. While in the back yard the whole Southern sky lit up blue for about 30 seconds. Probably another 50K people losing power.

A solid quarter inch of freezing rain, but sleet since. Looks to be about an inch. The streets are just sloppy. The pavement wasn't cold enough to freeze the rain, so just the sleet is left. When it gets co0lder it will be bad.

It could be a long day.

[brewskymc]

From NWS/FTW :

LEADING EDGE OF HEAVIER PRECIP
HAS A BIT OF INSTABILITY AND CLOUD TO CLOUD LIGHTNING IS
OCCURRING. HAVE ADDED ISOLATED THUNDER TO THE GRIDS ALONG THE
LEADING EDGE OF OF THE PRECIP BANDS UNTIL AFTER SUNRISE. AS THE
SHORT WAVE EXITS THE AREA THE PRECIP WILL END FROM WEST TO EAST
TODAY...WITH ALL PRECIP EAST OF THE AREA BY 6 PM.

I'm amazed that the precip shield still extends all the way to the SW of Sonora, into Mexico. Looks like we might have at least scattered activity for several more hours.

[Ntxw]

I am here to report (through my phone) that our power has gone out, roughly about 30 mins ago.

[gboudx]

We still have power but my God the ice. The trees behind my fence are leaning hard towards my house. This is nuts.

[SouthernMet]

Edit : 195k without power & rising in dfw, as heavy precip bands continue to move in from the sw. Unbelievable

[TheProfessor]

still have power, but all the trees are frozen with a lot of ice on the ground.

[TheProfessor]

Does anyone know if the last model run has anything for North Texas to worry about this weekend?

[AggieSpirit]

We have power going on and off here in Midlothian, with heavy sleet right now.

Our friends on the north side of Midlothian report they been without power for last hour or so.

Yikes.

Got the fireplace started.

[srainhoutx]

Morning Update From Jeff:

Damaging ice storm in progress over N TX this morning.

Potential for light ice accumulations over SE TX today into Saturday.

Winter Weather Advisory issued for: Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Houston, Walker, Madison, and Washington Counties until 300pm today

N/NW/NE TX Ice Storm:

Crippling ice storm in progress overnight over this part of the state. Dallas has been reporting freezing rain and sleet for the last 12 hours with temperatures in the mid to upper 20’s. Abilene has reported freezing rain with a temperature of 19 which is just insane. Nearly everything that is falling over this area is freezing on contact forming a now thickening layer of ice and sleet. Widespread power outages are already in progress over this region with 150,000 outages reported and this is going to be going up quickly this morning as trees and power lines are at their breaking point. Travel even on surface roads has become nearly impossible in the warning areas with TXDOT crews unable to keep enough sand on the roadways to keep them open due to the heavy nature of the falling precip. Moderate to at times heavy freezing rain will continue for the next several hours over this part of the state with ice accumulations reaching between .50 -.75 of an inch possibly an inch in some areas which is going to be devastating to the above ground power system. Temperatures are forecast to drop dangerously low by Saturday morning over this part of the state (10-18F) and likely remain at or near freezing into early next week keeping ice and power issues ongoing for several days.

SE TX:

Temperatures have fallen only a few degrees since last evening over the area and range from 34-35 NW to 37-39 Houston to 39-43 along the coast. Light rain has develop over parts of the area this morning, but surface temperatures remain warm enough to keep it from freezing. The College Station sensor has been reporting freezing rain…but this is incorrect with an air temperature of 34. Temperatures may drop another degree or tow today across our NW counties as cold air advection across the ice coated N TX draws some colder air southward. Some very light ice on elevated surfaces would be possible in the mentioned advisory area…but think this is very marginal and most bridges/overpasses will be ok. Rain and drizzle is falling from a very warm layer about 3000-5000ft above the surface with temperatures in the 50’s so the liquid is actually fairly warm and 31-32 will likely not cause much freezing. As noted overnight the biggest problems have been where surface temperatures have dropped to the mid and upper 20’s.

Tonight-Saturday:

Better potential for the surface temperature to fall to or below freezing across the northern ½ of the area (roughly north of I-10) by Saturday morning. Not looking at much rainfall tonight, but moisture begins to increase on Saturday ahead of another disturbance aloft moving into from the SW. Given very warm conditions aloft and warm ground conditions with very marginal freezing surface temperatures (30-32) this still does not look to be any significant ice potential. With that said could see some minor ice accumulations on Saturday into Saturday evening over areas north of I-10 with a few icy spots on bridges and overpasses. Expect amounts to range from a trace to .05 of an inch, but it should be made very clear that even .01 of ice on a bridge is potentially dangerous and especially so when they appear dry and in fact have frozen over from freezing drizzle. Freezing drizzle is about the worse winter precipitation as people tend not to exercise caution on bridges as they appear dry but will have a very thin layer of very slick ice. Think a winter weather advisory will be issued later today and may include portions of Harris County and areas N and W for the potential for minor ice accumulation Saturday into Saturday night. Temperatures will fall into the mid 30’s tonight and hover between 30-34 all day Saturday.

Sunday-next week:

Cold arctic dome remains locked in place and a secondary surge arrives around Monday keeping the entire state very cold. Lows will continue to be at or below freezing through the period over portions of the area with highs not much above 40-45 each day. Jet stream remains active and shows potential for more bouts of precipitation early next week…again could be dealing with some mixture of P-types depending on cold air depth and surface temperatures.

Will update again this evening.

[Portastorm]

We weren't exaggerating when we said "crippling".. You can hear police sirens going to respond to wrecks, & literally see the sky light up with transformers blowing up...

Btw that band along a Mineral Wells to Stephenville line, reportedly thundersleet & this is heading straight for the dfw metro as it strengthens.

Oh, it's going to be nothing ... no big deal, remember?! At least that is what some in the DFW area media were saying a few days ago.

Good, warm thoughts going out from the PWC to our friends in North Texas being impacted by this crippling storm. Please be safe! Oh, and it's 32 and "misting" here at the PWC. We're doing what we can to bring some real winter wx to south central Texas this weekend.