Oklahoma Weather Discussion - February/March 2013

[venture]

Norman refreshed much of the warnings and advisories for the state now. Everything seems to flow pretty good.



Orange/Red - Blizzard Warning for most areas through 6AM.
Pink - Winter Storm warning through 6AM.
Purple - Winter Weather Advisory (not Travelers Advisory you stupid local media grrrr) through 6AM.

[LocoAko]

Yep, updated the warning text and they still seem optimistic for the metro to see at least somewhat significant snowfall -


A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM CST TUESDAY.

* TIMING: RAIN WILL CHANGE TO SNOW THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS CENTRAL
AND SOUTHWEST OKLAHOMA. THE SNOW WILL BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES BY
LATE AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT.

* IMPACTS: STRONG AND GUSTY NORTHWEST WIND WILL CAUSE BLOWING AND
DRIFTING SNOW. VISIBILITY MAY BE NEAR ZERO AT TIMES IN THE
HEAVIER SNOW BANDS. TRAVEL WILL BE DANGEROUS LATE THIS AFTERNOON
THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS UP TO 8 INCHES CAN BE
EXPECTED FROM STILLWATER TO FAR NORTHERN AND WESTERN PARTS OF
OKLAHOMA CITY METRO...TO AROUND 2 OR 3 INCHES SOUTH OF PURCELL.

[Decious]

Sleet starting to mix in at my location in NW Edmond. Intermittent. Not constant. Enough so that my wimpy dog won't stay outside to do his business.

[jn1780]

NWS has it rain and sleet through 2:00.

[Anonymous.]

The storm is taking a beating, killing itself with dry air . The center of the low is tracking directly east into Wichita Falls. Convection is trying its hardest to populate this area with precip and get the dry air out of SC OK but it is having a real tough time.

If the precip. can restablish itself from Altus to Lawton to Ardmore, there could be major problems over C OK as we head into tonight.



I'd like to see a report from Lubbock, they have been sitting underneath the end tail of the deformation zone all morning long.

[venture]

Updated NWS snowfall forecast...

[venture]

The storm is taking a beating, killing itself with dry air . The center of the low is tracking directly east into Wichita Falls. Convection is trying its hardest to populate this area with precip and get the dry air out of SC OK but it is having a real tough time.

If the precip. can restablish itself from Altus to Lawton to Ardmore, there could be major problems over C OK as we head into tonight.

Yeah this massive dry slot working in is definitely risking choking this thing off. The new development in Grady County gives hope that this might start to fill in the dry area pushing up into Canadian and Caddo counties.

[kelroy55]

Sleet starting to mix in at my location in NW Edmond. Intermittent. Not constant. Enough so that my wimpy dog won't stay outside to do his business.

I had to drag mine outside

[Anonymous.]

Yeah this massive dry slot working in is definitely risking choking this thing off. The new development in Grady County gives hope that this might start to fill in the dry area pushing up into Canadian and Caddo counties.

Precip is on the increase per Abilene radar, this will help cut off much of the drier air being spun directly into the center over Wichita Falls.

I am thinking SW and SC OK will start filling in with precip. as we head into this afternoon. The storm is moving so slowly that the dry air does not have such an advantage as it would if the system were racing off to the NE.

[venture]

mPING and Twitter reports saying precip in Northern canadian county appears to be moving to all snow now. For the Central part of the Metro area still looks like rain/sleet for awhile. El Reno mesonet is down to 32...so watch for any icing out there now.

[NoOkie]

mPING and Twitter reports saying precip in Northern canadian county appears to be moving to all snow now. For the Central part of the Metro area still looks like rain/sleet for awhile.

It doesn't even appear to be raining anymore, where I sit. Might be drizzling, though.

[venture]

Precip is on the increase per Abilene radar, this will help cut off much of the drier air being spun directly into the center over Wichita Falls.

I am thinking SW and SC OK will start filling in with precip. as we head into this afternoon. The storm is moving so slowly that the dry air does not have such an advantage as it would if the system were racing off to the NE.

Yeah. Even right now on FDR seeing more little areas of precip trying to fill in. So there is hope. Also think the more sleet showers we see pop up around here the faster we can get this change over moving as the air cools.

[kelroy55]

It doesn't even appear to be raining anymore, where I sit. Might be drizzling, though.

same here near 50th and May

[venture]

It doesn't even appear to be raining anymore, where I sit. Might be drizzling, though.

Depends where you are. Remember when I refer to the Metro area...I'm talking the actual Metro area not just OKC. So essentially all 7 counties.

[Decious]

Precip is on the increase per Abilene radar, this will help cut off much of the drier air being spun directly into the center over Wichita Falls.

I am thinking SW and SC OK will start filling in with precip. as we head into this afternoon. The storm is moving so slowly that the dry air does not have such an advantage as it would if the system were racing off to the NE.

Agreed. The system is kinda stacked and with the amount of lift we have... hopefully the dry air can be overcome. When the hefty band was putting down 2-3 inch per hour rates over the TX panhandle the water vapor image wasn't very impressive looking. System is starting to get good exhaust now so hopefully it'll spit the desert air out. Very dynamic system. I'm only 30 but this is the most fun I've had watching a storm since the Christmas Eve Blizzard. After all... there really are no "changes". It's gonna do what it was gonna do ya know. But it's fascinating to watch and prepare for/react to.

[venture]

Another random thought. Line of severe storms now going from south of Ft. Smith, AR down into NE TX. A lot of times with this strong winter storms we'll see this happen, but in this case they are pretty far removed and out ahead of the main storm. So this should help limit any moisture getting cut off which can happen a lot.

A good pocket of what looks like sleet will be moving through SW OK county near the airport here shortly.

[venture]

ODOT ‏@OKDOT
WNTR TTRAVEL - I-40 heading west into the Texas Panhandle is closed and experiencing large snow drifts. Travel is strongly discouraged.

[ou48A]

Mike Morgan CH 4 reports up to 3 inches per hour snow rates.

[ou48A]

ODOT ‏@OKDOT
WNTR TTRAVEL - I-40 heading west into the Texas Panhandle is closed and experiencing large snow drifts. Travel is strongly discouraged.

The TV people are reporting 14” of snow on the ground in Amarillo with 6 foot drifts being common….with several hours more snow left.
The Texas panhandle is for all practical proposes is shut down… The drifting will become much worse.

[RadicalModerate]

(speaking of random thought c. Post #668) . . .

OK . . . near the end of February (winter) . . . sorta cold . . . (12:25pm CST) . . . (winter) . . . What is Winter going to DO?
Is it snow, rain, ice or whut? Can you imagine what folks did or didn't do in the past? (Farmer's Almanac, that's what. =)

Venture: Thank You for being The Best Weatherman Ever. (no kidding. no joke.)
(you make the Purveyors o' MindlessPanic on TV appear just as they are =)

Again: Thanks.
(yet . . . what can we DO about The Weather Dichotomy?--talking [act] doing (something), about it =)
('course where i was raised up we had chinook winds instead of tornados and it was a lot colder with more snow)

[OKCRT]

OK . . . near the end of February (winter) . . . sorta cold . . . (12:25pm CST) . . . (winter) . . . What is Winter going to DO?
Is it snow, rain, ice or whut? Can you imagine what folks did or didn't do in the past? (Farmer's Almanac, that's what.)

Venture: Thank You for being The Best Weatherman Ever. (no kidding. no joke.)
(you make the Purveyors o' MindlessPanic on TV appear just as they are =)

Again: Thanks.
(yet . . . what can we DO about The Weather Dichotomy?--talking [act] doing (something), about it =)
('course where i was raised up we had chinook winds instead of tornados and it was a lot colder with more snow)

That's no joke. I find myself coming here for accurate weather.

[Achilleslastand]

What time is the snow expected to hit the metro?

[Of Sound Mind]

What time is the snow expected to hit the metro?

When it gets here...

[venture]

What time is the snow expected to hit the metro?

A lot is going to depend on this redevelopment in the dry slot. This thing is moving painfully slow to the east.

[SoonerDave]

That's no joke. I find myself coming here for accurate weather.

Me too. For a long time now.