Texas Winter 2021-2022

[opticsguy]

Another bust is the temperatures for DFW. I keep hearing on TV that it's supposed to get above freezing this afternoon. Unless there's some serious sunshine in the next few hours, that isn't going to happen.

It's actually scarier to walk outside than it was a few weeks back. Every surface is covered with 1/8" of ice. Sometimes it looks like wet pavment, sometimes it looks like dry pavement.

[wxman57]

Snow reports in Austin. Lol

I would think that real snow would not be possible with temperatures in the lower 50s not far above the shallow sub-freezing layer. More likely it's frozen drizzle - tiny ice crystals floating around.

[Haris]

Snow reports in Austin. Lol

I would think that real snow would not be possible with temperatures in the lower 50s not far above the shallow sub-freezing layer. More likely it's frozen drizzle - tiny ice crystals floating around.

Couple videos out of the ground totally white and covered. But yeah I have no clue how and why

[Ntxw]

Not all that disappointed with the qpf bust (though we do need rain) since the majority was going to be freezing rain anyway which isn't that fun to deal with or look at. There was always that risk since the upper feature was ejecting too far away.

Temperatures have been impressive though and more than I personally expected. DFW has been in the 20s since 4-5am yesterday.

[lukem]

Not all that disappointed with the qpf bust (though we do need rain) .

At least the GFS is trending wetter for the first part of March. That would be a great start to spring!

[TexasStorm]

Another bust is the temperatures for DFW. I keep hearing on TV that it's supposed to get above freezing this afternoon. Unless there's some serious sunshine in the next few hours, that isn't going to happen.

Peak heating is not until around 4p-5p. We are not above freezing in Kaufman county and the roads have already turned back to just water.

[wxman57]

Snow reports in Austin. Lol

I would think that real snow would not be possible with temperatures in the lower 50s not far above the shallow sub-freezing layer. More likely it's frozen drizzle - tiny ice crystals floating around.

Couple videos out of the ground totally white and covered. But yeah I have no clue how and why

Here's an Austin sounding valid at noon. The cloud and precip layer starts around 850mb (5000 ft) with an air temperature of 51F. The saturated air mass reaches 32F at 925mb (2560 ft) and remains below freezing to the surface. With the precip originating in above freezing air, it must be drizzle that freezes into small ice crystals before reaching the ground. Not your typical snowflakes, but tiny ice crystals. If the precip was heavier then it would fall as sleet.

Note that around 15Z when Austin was reporting freezing drizzle, the temperature at the top of the saturation level was closer to 53 degrees and the freezing level was down at almost 950mb (2000 ft or so). I don't claim to be a snow expert, but I don't see snowflakes forming in such conditions.

http://wxman57.com/images/AUS.JPG

[orangeblood]

Not all that disappointed with the qpf bust (though we do need rain) since the majority was going to be freezing rain anyway which isn't that fun to deal with or look at. There was always that risk since the upper feature was ejecting too far away.

Temperatures have been impressive though and more than I personally expected. DFW has been in the 20s since 4-5am yesterday.

ICON was the winner or had the best QPF depiction….again. That model is becoming more and more impressive

[rwfromkansas]

Regarding warnings, I do wonder if the current system is the best. I know technically an advisory is an upgrade to a winter storm watch, but when it happens, I still see it as a downgrade personally since it is less than a warning. That perception I’m sure is fairly common.

[Portastorm]

Wxman57, I learned long ago to not second-guess your meteorological knowledge ... and I see what you posted above and can't argue with it ... yet there were multiple videos posted on social media of snow flurries falling. It occurred near Decker Lake which is a warm water, small lake by a power plant. Some have speculated that might have had something to do with it. I don't know ... but I saw the videos and was just as surprised as you.

[Texas Snow]

Wxman57, I learned long ago to not second-guess your meteorological knowledge ... and I see what you posted above and can't argue with it ... yet there were multiple videos posted on social media of snow flurries falling. It occurred near Decker Lake which is a warm water, small lake by a power plant. Some have speculated that might have had something to do with it. I don't know ... but I saw the videos and was just as surprised as you.

I have something similar at my house this morning and even a little bit now. I think it is drizzle that froze on the way down but is so light it looks like tiny flurries when its falling.

[gboudx]

Wxman57, I learned long ago to not second-guess your meteorological knowledge ... and I see what you posted above and can't argue with it ... yet there were multiple videos posted on social media of snow flurries falling. It occurred near Decker Lake which is a warm water, small lake by a power plant. Some have speculated that might have had something to do with it. I don't know ... but I saw the videos and was just as surprised as you.

If that's the case, then it's different and more in-line with how snow machines work. Small droplets of water in the form of steam freeze into ice crystals. If there's enough ice crystals, they can clump together into larger "flakes".

[Brent]

2nd round largely busted up here too but still Tulsa reported 1.2 inches of sleet which was right on the forecast and the best part we seem to avoided the feared power outages south of here so it wasn't all bad news for sure. The cold is definitely more impressive though we have just now gotten into the 20s a week before March!

Actually seeing some flurries now which was expected as the precip ended

[gpsnowman]

Melting is underway with temps in upper 20s and the sun is trying to poke out. Good, we need clear roads in the morning.

[Quixotic]

I’ve seen snow generated under clear skies just from steam off the boilers at a manufacturing site. That said the drizzle here yesterday was coming down frozen before it hit the ground.

[CaptinCrunch]

There is a cloud band moving into NW Tarrant that has very lite frozen grains. I thought it was ash from fireplace but it's not, it's mini ice grains.

[Brent]

Melting is underway with temps in upper 20s and the sun is trying to poke out. Good, we need clear roads in the morning.

Yes definitely ready for the melting. Main roads are fine here but some of the side roads were just now

[jasons2k]

Wxman57, I learned long ago to not second-guess your meteorological knowledge ... and I see what you posted above and can't argue with it ... yet there were multiple videos posted on social media of snow flurries falling. It occurred near Decker Lake which is a warm water, small lake by a power plant. Some have speculated that might have had something to do with it. I don't know ... but I saw the videos and was just as surprised as you.

Many years ago, the “soundings” said it was impossible for sleet pellets and I was called out for saying I had seen some sleet pellets. It was due to evaporational cooling of supercooled droplets falling from mid-level clouds through some very dry air.

Raindrops don’t ‘ping’ and bounce off the windshield

Sometimes the soundings and numbers don’t tell the whole story. I learned a lesson from Harold Taft at a young age that has always stuck with me. Regardless of what satellite, radar, and instrumental observations told him, he would always step outside to take a look for himself before he ever went on the air. Sage advice from one of the true legends.

[wxman22]

I saw some of the videos from northeast Austin today.It was definitely snow...Its rare but possible to get localized pockets of evaporative cooling I've seen it happen several times here in SE Texas.Even EWX retweeted this:
https://twitter.com/NWSSanAntonio/statu ... 1674692610

[bubba hotep]

HRRR showing some freezing rain lifting northward up I35 tomorrow morning. Also, FWD is highlighting some winter mix potential for portions of Eastern DFW tomorrow night into Saturday morning.