Texas Winter 2017-2018

[DFWLady]

Winter Storm Warning at my house in Arlington right now!

I was so mad this morning that I turned on the sprinkler system!

Damn you Mother Nature....
I will have my winter weather event!

Make room, I'm coming over to build a snowman!

Alright I'll turn the sprinklers back on. My neighbor might get upset though, he already turned his truck over in the driveway!

Tell your neighbor to come join in the winter fun! Snow for everyone on your street lol

[Longhornmaniac8]

Getting some graupel mixed in with the sleet now. Not much, but it's there.

[root]

Got small amount of dusting in the Keller area last night. Glad other parts of Texas got some, but I must admit, I'm jealous.

[Browndog]

Some pics around Longview. Roads are terrible for only 2-3" of snow. Solid ice.

[TheProfessor]

Also, to anyone who knows how to pick up on severe weather in the models:

Any thoughts on the 12z GFS at hour 120 for NTX? Im not very experienced in looking at much other than short term models for this, but at that hour I see a 999mb surface low in the TX/OK panhandle, and in NTX I see 25kt surface winds to the NNE and 60 kt 850mb winds transitioning to the ENE at 700mb with precip falling. I might be wrong, but that looks severe-ish to me.

There might be a hint of some thunderstorms, but as of this 12z GFS run there would be too many things going against Severe weather. The sounding by itself at hour 114 would look great in the spring if the temperature was 75 and the dew point was 70. The most limiting factor would be the lack of instability 500 J/kg CAPE is enough for some thunder, if you want severe weather without really good support from windshear you need a CAPE of 1000-1250 J/kg. Although there are some strong winds above the surface, you'd want to see a bit more turning. I'd say that I wouldn't expect anything more than a marginal severe risk off this model run, but that could change.

Speaking of wind we always speak of it from where it's coming from, not where it's heading. So we would say, "The wind will be from the south at 5-10 mph. A cold front will pass through and the winds will turn towards the Northwest at 30-35 mph with gusts up to 40mph."
Instead of "The wind will be heading towards the north at 5-10 mph and then turn to the Northwest at 20-25mph." The 2nd quote makes it sound like the winds are coming from the SE. In your case it would be a SSW surface wind becoming a WSW 700mb wind.

[sensoria]

Getting some graupel mixed in with the sleet now. Not much, but it's there.

Enough sleet to whiten the ground with a bit of light snow mixed in down here near I-35 in South Austin.

[Longhornmaniac8]

Getting some graupel mixed in with the sleet now. Not much, but it's there.

Enough sleet to whiten the ground with a bit of light snow mixed in down here near I-35 in South Austin.

Central and South Austin are going to be the winners (or losers, depending on your perspective) from this event.

[Ralph's Weather]

Clouds have cleared enough that roads are improving here. Hopefully they can dry off some before tonight.

[Hurricane_Apu]

32 in Lafayette with mixed rain and sleet. Ice just starting to form on surfaces...

[PTrackerLA]

31 in Lafayette now with a freezing rain/sleet mix. I think a lot of folks will be caught off guard this afternoon as all the evening weathermen were downplaying this event. Bridges will likely be very hazardous soon.

[wxman22]

Getting moderate sleet near Downtown Houston its really starting to accumulate, what a storm!

[JDawg512]

Streets and driveway are dry here. Slight coating of ice on patio furniture and vegetation. Nothing major at all. Bust here?

Yeah I think it was a bust. I'm at work and the roads were just wet, no sleet or snow made all the difference. Perhaps its not over though? I haven't been able to look outside since sunrise. Exciting nonetheless.

Sorry if this sounds harsh ... but this is not a bust. I don't know what you were expecting when you awoke, but right now in Austin we have most overpasses iced over. Sleet falling in places around town and not melting, adding to the ice. APD is working numerous accidents and has asked people to stay off the roads. The radar at 9:30 am shows more inbound sleet and maybe snow from the west for the next few hours.

Try telling our first responders right now this was a bust. The event is not over. SMH.

This is very true. Looking out my window, I can see ice covering everything, quite a lot of icecicles, bushes bent over. Sleet coating roofs, grass, exposed surfaces and the street. This is no time to be going anywhere unless you work for emergency services or hospital. I haven't seen it look this icy in years.

[Shoshana]

Yeah I think it was a bust. I'm at work and the roads were just wet, no sleet or snow made all the difference. Perhaps its not over though? I haven't been able to look outside since sunrise. Exciting nonetheless.

Sorry if this sounds harsh ... but this is not a bust. I don't know what you were expecting when you awoke, but right now in Austin we have most overpasses iced over. Sleet falling in places around town and not melting, adding to the ice. APD is working numerous accidents and has asked people to stay off the roads. The radar at 9:30 am shows more inbound sleet and maybe snow from the west for the next few hours.

Try telling our first responders right now this was a bust. The event is not over. SMH.

This is very true. Looking out my window, I can see ice covering everything, quite a lot of icecicles, bushes bent over. Sleet coating roofs, grass, exposed surfaces and the street. This is no time to be going anywhere unless you work for emergency services or hospital. I haven't seen it look this icy in years.

I think parts of town are worse than other parts. I don’t see any icicles, there is no sleet on the ground or anywhere else. Grass and vegetation are ice coated but our north facing covered patio is totally clear. I will go for a walk before I decide whether to try to go to work later

[cheezyWXguy]

Also, to anyone who knows how to pick up on severe weather in the models:

Any thoughts on the 12z GFS at hour 120 for NTX? Im not very experienced in looking at much other than short term models for this, but at that hour I see a 999mb surface low in the TX/OK panhandle, and in NTX I see 25kt surface winds to the NNE and 60 kt 850mb winds transitioning to the ENE at 700mb with precip falling. I might be wrong, but that looks severe-ish to me.

There might be a hint of some thunderstorms, but as of this 12z GFS run there would be too many things going against Severe weather. The sounding by itself at hour 114 would look great in the spring if the temperature was 75 and the dew point was 70. The most limiting factor would be the lack of instability 500 J/kg CAPE is enough for some thunder, if you want severe weather without really good support from windshear you need a CAPE of 1000-1250 J/kg. Although there are some strong winds above the surface, you'd want to see a bit more turning. I'd say that I wouldn't expect anything more than a marginal severe risk off this model run, but that could change.

Speaking of wind we always speak of it from where it's coming from, not where it's heading. So we would say, "The wind will be from the south at 5-10 mph. A cold front will pass through and the winds will turn towards the Northwest at 30-35 mph with gusts up to 40mph."
Instead of "The wind will be heading towards the north at 5-10 mph and then turn to the Northwest at 20-25mph." The 2nd quote makes it sound like the winds are coming from the SE. In your case it would be a SSW surface wind becoming a WSW 700mb wind.

Thank you for the detailed reply, it really clears things up. I had been using tropicaltidbits to look at that run before I posted this, which doesn’t show instability and didn’t have a sounding at the time I looked. Shortly after, I went over to pivotalweather and saw that projected instability at that time was only about 500 j/kg at most. And thanks for the tip about winds, I’ll try to stick to that from now on

[ThunderSleetDreams]

HGX - 2107-2018 Winter Weather Champions!

Earn History!

My neighborhood is a frozen wonderland of sleet and snow.

[ThunderSleetDreams]

Huge flakes and moderate snow in Magnolia!

[Goawayharvey]

Here in NW Harris county (77095) we’ve been getting mostly sleet for the last 3 hours or more at the house. Temp has been hovering around 25-26 and fairly breezy. Sleet is piling up. Solid sheets of ice are beginning to develop on the driveway. Probably going to go shovel a path so we can take the dogs outside and not end up on our backsides. Attempted to post some images, but am failing at that.

Need wxman57 to snap out of this spell he’s under and bring back the blowtorch.

[TexasF6]

Porta, big, awesome flakes in NW Austin at the Longhorn WX Center!!!!!! Again!!!!!!!!!!! I want more!!!!!!!!!!

[wxman57]

I left work early so that I wasn't trapped by Hobby Airport this afternoon. It's 27 degrees with a steady light sleet in SW Houston. Sleet is gathering at the base of our oak tree. Individual sleet pellets are rather small, as they're forming more from drizzle than light rain. No sign of any snowflakes yet.

Here's a movie of the sleet, along with a couple of pictures. I think it's just about the right temperature to head out on a long bike ride...

http://wxman57.com/images/Sleeting.MOV

[Longhornmaniac8]

Porta, big, awesome flakes in NW Austin at the Longhorn WX Center!!!!!! Again!!!!!!!!!!! I want more!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, really? Nothing here in Anderson Mill.