Blizzard Pics
I was pondering today just how fortunate I have been in experiencing mother nature's various tantrums. Tornadoes of all shapes and sizes, behemoth supercell thunderstorms, gorilla hail, wicked lightning, violent downbursts, dust/sand storms, haboobs, floods, sub zero temperatures, intense 113F heat, heavy snow (including thundesnow), sleet storms (complete with CG strikes!), ice fog, hurricanes, and now a blizzard. This one produced the most snowfall I've ever experienced (officially now 10-13 inches across the area) and of course the blinding whiteout conditions under 40+mph winds. Certainly this isn't the monster blizzards they get up north, but for these parts, it is major. I mean, really, if you want to get technical about it, the South Pole blizzards have got you yankees and even Canadians beat by a mile. :-)
Here is a satellite image from this morning showing the snow on the ground with clouds from the departing system to the east. Note the interesting contours such as Lake Meridith and the Canadian River Valley together where apparently little snowfall occurred?:
Video clips will come later as I have ALOT to sift through. Heck, I still need to upload my chase video and pics from last Thursday. LOL! I have a full photo gallery of the blizzard now online. CLICK HERE to view it.
Some samples below:
We got into the lower 40's today and with full sunshine, alot of the snow melted. The rest should be gone by tomorrow as we get to 60F. A few spots in the shade will defy death by solar radiation for a couple more days. The massive piles of snow driven by the parking lot plows may hang around for a couple more weeks. I remember that from 2007. :-) Also, props go out to the City Of Amarillo, the plow operators and other crews who quickly dominated the situation and cleared all of the major city streets early this morning. It was an amazing feat. The big award goes to the city police, fire, EMS and AES for doing their duty in the middle of horrendous conditions in responding to calls for help and aid. True heros in every sense of the word.
Looking ahead, there is a storm system that may in fact bring a round of severe weather and chasing next weekend. Stay tuned for that. I'm looking forward to starting the new job on Monday, so I will likely be abit out of pocket next week. But will keep an eye on the weekend potential.
Here is a satellite image from this morning showing the snow on the ground with clouds from the departing system to the east. Note the interesting contours such as Lake Meridith and the Canadian River Valley together where apparently little snowfall occurred?:
Video clips will come later as I have ALOT to sift through. Heck, I still need to upload my chase video and pics from last Thursday. LOL! I have a full photo gallery of the blizzard now online. CLICK HERE to view it.
Some samples below:
We got into the lower 40's today and with full sunshine, alot of the snow melted. The rest should be gone by tomorrow as we get to 60F. A few spots in the shade will defy death by solar radiation for a couple more days. The massive piles of snow driven by the parking lot plows may hang around for a couple more weeks. I remember that from 2007. :-) Also, props go out to the City Of Amarillo, the plow operators and other crews who quickly dominated the situation and cleared all of the major city streets early this morning. It was an amazing feat. The big award goes to the city police, fire, EMS and AES for doing their duty in the middle of horrendous conditions in responding to calls for help and aid. True heros in every sense of the word.
Looking ahead, there is a storm system that may in fact bring a round of severe weather and chasing next weekend. Stay tuned for that. I'm looking forward to starting the new job on Monday, so I will likely be abit out of pocket next week. But will keep an eye on the weekend potential.
Labels: Amarillo Blizzard
posted by Steve Miller TX at 3/29/2009 12:55:00 AM
5 Comments:
Great pictures Steve. I am a Canadian and I still say that was an insane blizzard. The most snow I ever got to experience from one storm was near the beginning of March, 2008 with 18 inches. Here in the Canadian Tropics it was 56 today and I even enjoyed a blizzard from DQ lol.
Hard to believe I was there a week ago enjoying a nice sunny spring morning! I have an earlier morning vis sat pic I saved that had much more snow on it. It melted off quick on the south end.
I got screwed. Only a dusting. On the other hand, it's going to be sunny, 79 and dry here today!
I have experienced many snowstorms here in Amarillo in my 39 yrs here. I remember drifts of 5-6 ft back in the 80s when I would get too play all day when they would cancel school but I had never seen whiteout conditions like we had Friday. At times I coldnt see more than 15-20 ft while trying to work these wrecks. y the way thanks for the cudos for my EAS guys and all the 1st responders in Amarillo. It was a team effort and it was very smart for our EOC to be activated and fully manned so we could coordinate resources so well. Our OEM dept is second to none. They were all over this storm as was the local NWS and the tv mets. I think most people were prepared except for travelers who were mostly caught unaware of what they were driving into. You figure truckers would pay more attention but many had no clue we were expecting a blizzard. sorry for long post steve..lol
Love the snow drift pics! Isn't it amazing how fast the wx changes?
Thanks for sharing your journey with everyone viewing at CTV!
Great images Steve. I got sick and as a result wasn't able to get out and get some photos. By the time I was feeling better it was all but gone.
Panhandle weather is unique. Where else on earth can you experience all four season - in 48 hrs!
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