If you haven’t already noticed, it is much cooler outside today! In fact, temperatures have begun slowly falling after the frontal passage earlier this morning, even under lots of sunshine. Clouds have been slow to thicken so far this afternoon, but satellite images show clouds quickly thickening across northeast New Mexico and the Texas panhandle as a storm system approaches from Colorado. These clouds should continue to thicken and move south towards the Lubbock area through the remainder of the afternoon. Models are all still showing a band of snow developing across New Mexico and the Oklahoma panhandle. This band is then expected to begin moving south through eastern New Mexico, the panhandle, and most of the South Plains; including Lubbock later tonight. In fact, a still shot of the current radar animation shows this band already developing:
radar Snapshot, valid for 3:33 CTD, 2:33 MTD
As this band continues to develop and trek southeast towards the South Plains, some light accumulations are becoming a distinct possibility. For this reason, the National Weather Service office in Lubbock has hoisted a Winter Weather Advisory for Parmer,Castro,Bailey, & Lamb counties;generally the northwestern areas of the South Plains. This area has the best chance at receiving total accumulations of near an inch, thus meeting the qualifications for a Winter Weather Advisory. For Lubbock, expect between a dusting to at most, a half an inch. However, these snowfall events are very hard to forecast and further updates may be needed later this evening. Below is a snap-shot of the current watches, warnings, and advisories that have been issued by the National Weather Service, so far:
Products issued by the NWS as of 3:45 PM 12/9/12
Again, it only takes light amounts of snow to make traveling across the region hazardous. Be mindful of road conditions and leave plenty of space between yourself and the driver in front of you. After the snow ends, around 5AM, the cold weather will stick around with low temperatures in the upper teens expected in Lubbock tomorrow morning, with highs only ‘warming’ into the upper 30’s by afternoon.
For further updates check the KTXT Weather page or visit the National Weather Service’s Website at http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lub/
– Cutter Martin (KTXT Weather)
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