Lone Star Weather Cornucopia

2330Z UPDATE: 6-8 inches of snow reported across Tarrant and Denton counties. Reports of some tree limbs in denton breaking because of the snow's weight. The NWS Fort Worth issued a statement below...keep in mind the official measuring site is the airport which only recorded 2 inches of snowfall. Using the 6-9 inches reported just north and west of the airport, this is indeed a historic snowfall event and had the official observation site been a little further west and north, it would have set an all-time record 24 hour snowfall in March as well as the all-time amount for the month:

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
500 PM CST THU MAR 6 2008

...MARCH SNOWFALL IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE...HISTORICALLY...WINTER WEATHER OCCURS IN MARCH ABOUT 2 OUT OF EVERY 5 YEARS. AT THE OFFICIAL CLIMATE SITE FOR DALLAS/FORT WORTH...THERE HAS BEEN WINTRY PRECIPITATION IN 46 MARCH MONTHS SINCE 1899. WITH THE SNOWFALL TODAY...THERE HAVE NOW BEEN 82 CALENDAR DAYS IN MARCH WITH WINTRY PRECIPITATION.

THE FOLLOWING ARE THE HIGHEST 24-HOUR SNOW TOTALS FOR DALLAS/FORTWORTH IN THE MONTH OF MARCH.
6.0 MAR 13, 1924
4.5 MAR 1, 1942
3.9 MAR 7, 1947
2.5 MAR 17-18, 1934
2.2 MAR 14, 1962 & MAR 9, 1915

MARCH 1942 HAD BEEN THE ONLY MARCH WITH TWO DIFFERENT CALENDAR DAYSWITH AT LEAST 1 INCH OF SNOW. MARCH 2008 JOINS THE CLUB...WITH SNOW ON MARCH 3 AND MARCH 6.

TOP 10 MONTHLY SNOWFALL TOTALS FOR MARCH
1) 6.1 1942
2) 6.0 1924
3) 3.9 1947
4) 2.6 1934
5) 2.2 1962 .... 2.2 1915
7) 2.0 2008 (THROUGH 4 PM TODAY) ..... 2.0 1937
9) 1.7 1954
10) 1.6 1971

OTHER STATS FOR DALLAS/FORT WORTH...
MOST DAYS IN MARCH WITH MEASURABLE SNOWFALL - 3 (1989 AND 1934)
MOST DAYS IN MARCH WITH ANY SNOWFALL - 4 (1970 AND 1942)
MOST RECENT MARCH WITH SNOWFALL - 2002 (0.3 INCHES ON MARCH 2)
LATEST IN SEASON WITH AT LEAST 1 INCH - MARCH 29, 1937 (2.0 INCHES)
LATEST IN SEASON WITH MEASURABLE SNOW - MARCH 30, 1926 (0.1 INCHES)
LATEST IN SEASON WITH ANY SNOW - APRIL 14, 1928 (TRACE)

2100Z UPDATE: Latest storm reports indicate 3-5 inches of snow across North Texas with one report just SE of Gainesville of 9 inches where the heaviest band occurred on radar. Yowsa!

A pretty incredible event is ongoing across the Lone Star State this afternoon. Here it is March 6th, and a winter storm is raging across the norhtern half of Texas. We got about 2-3 inches of snow here in Amarillo overnigh and this morning. However, the North Central Texas area is getting hammered badly. It's rare enough to get heavy snows in that area, but being the first week of March makes it even more unusual. I'll check the record books on that to see just how unusual, but it is very rare indeed.

Right now, very intense snow is falling all across North Texas including thundersnow. Radar looks very impressive.

Almost all of the red is snow with sleet mixed in. I can't recall in recent memory seeing such a radar presentation of snow. Here is the latest winter storm warning from the NWS:

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT WORTH HAS ISSUED A WINTER
STORM WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM CST FRIDAY. THE
SNOW ADVISORY IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

AS AN UPPER SYSTEM MOVES ACROSS NORTH TEXAS...HEAVIER SNOW BANDS
WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP ACROSS WESTERN NORTH TEXAS. SNOW WILL THEN
SPREAD EAST INTO THE METROPLEX THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO NORTHEAST
TEXAS THIS EVENING. SNOW TOTAL AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES ARE
EXPECTED IN AN AREA RUNNING FROM EASTLAND COUNTY EASTWARD ACROSS
THE METROPLEX AND ON INTO THE SULPHUR SPRINGS AREA. NEAR THE RED
RIVER UP TO SIX INCHES ARE POSSIBLE.

And here is the latest short term discussion:

MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW...AT TIMES ACCOMPANIED BY THUNDERSNOW...WILL
CONTINUE THROUGH 3 PM ALONG AND NORTH OF A COMANCHE...WEATHERFORD
...DENTON...TO SHERMAN LINE. SNOWFALL RATES OF UP TO 2 INCHES AN
HOUR WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THE AREAS OF HEAVIER SNOW. VISIBILITIES
WILL BE REDUCED TO LESS THAN 1/4-MILE AT TIMES.

Oh, and by the way, not too far south along the Texas coast, about a 4-5 hour drive, a tornado watch is in effect.





ONLY IN TEXAS!!! :-)