Texas winter wx thread (2009-2010)

[DentonGal]

Ok so with a front this cold moving in would it be considered a blue norther'? With that in mind has anyone ever really seen one move in? I have heard stories from people who claim that the sky is a darker shade of blue off to the north due to the air being very dense and cold. Is this true? Does anyone have some pictures or videos of this? To bad this front is moving in overnight........

I remember one from the early 90's (don't remember the year...sorry). I knew it was coming and was waiting for it. I grabbed all 6 children, and we stood on the back patio to wait for it. It was a nice 70 degree day, and in the North, it was such a deep, dark blue you would have thought a thunderstorm was coming. The first thing we noticed was the wind (obviously), but what was odd, is that we started hearing the wind before a blade of grass ever moved. Then, from about 1/4 mile away, the trees began to bow over, and the grass in the fields began to wave. It took a couple of minutes, but we could literally "see" the blue norther as it approached, then WHAM! The force of the wind was amazing when it finally hit our bodies! One of the wonderful miracles of nature that my kids got to experience. I've waited for years for another experience like that, but it's never happened. Even with the front coming through today, it will probably be dark before it reaches us here in Denton. I hope you get to experience one!

[Dallasaggie01]

Ok so with a front this cold moving in would it be considered a blue norther'?

You may not get to see the full show between already cool air in place, cloud cover and time of day (night).

I can remember a few fronts in DFW in the 80's (when these blasts were more common), where we'd drop from near 70F to mid-20's in a matter of hours. Oftentimes you could easily spot the front rolling in from the NW due to the crazy temp difference.

I remember early Dec. of 2006 we had a couple of those massive fronts. One day hit 78-80 by mid afternoon, and we were at freezing with sleet and frzg rain by early evening. I don't know if that was considered a blue norther but the wall of low clouds and wind barrelling south was amazing to see... so was the thermometer on my truck dropping as fast a seconds on a clock!

[wxgirl69]

NWS has SE Houston's rain chance at 60% for Thursday morning. That just really rubs me the wrong way. So close but no prize... BBBAAAHHH!!!!!

[HockeyTx82]

Thanks for the stories so far. I wish I could see and experience one during the day. It sounds like it is truly an awesome sight to see one. Mother Nature does some pretty cool things.

[srainhoutx]

For those in the RGV, BRO has a great Update...

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bro/?n=2010_januarycoldblast

[gboudx]

Ok so with a front this cold moving in would it be considered a blue norther'? With that in mind has anyone ever really seen one move in? I have heard stories from people who claim that the sky is a darker shade of blue off to the north due to the air being very dense and cold. Is this true? Does anyone have some pictures or videos of this? To bad this front is moving in overnight........

A couple years ago something like that came rolling through. I was driving in my car and it was about 70 degrees. The sky to the north had dark blue clouds from side to side. As soon as it hit me, all the windows in my car fogged up immediately. I was at a stop light and it happened to the cars around me too. The temp must've dropped at least 15-20 degrees that quickly. I frantically tried to clear my windows and then started driving. As I'm driving, I drove right past the leading edge of the front because my windows started to clear, and then the temp gauge showed it back to around 70. Stopped at a light, and it caught up to me with windows fogging up again. Eventually I got enough ahead of the front to make it home before it reached my house. Was a very weird experience.

[Portastorm]

For those in the RGV, BRO has a great Update...

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bro/?n=2010_januarycoldblast

Thanks for the link. That is outstanding! What has gotten into NWSFO Brownsville lately? I do think someone pulled the old-timers in off the golf course and put them at a workstation.

[srainhoutx]

For those in the RGV, BRO has a great Update...

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bro/?n=2010_januarycoldblast

Thanks for the link. That is outstanding! What has gotten into NWSFO Brownsville lately? I do think someone pulled the old-timers in off the golf course and put them at a workstation.

You would think McFarland is back, wouldn't you.

[WacoWx]

AS USUAL WITH ARCTIC AIRMASSES...THE MODELS HAVE BEEN TOO QUICK IN
MODIFYING TEMPERATURES FOR THE WEEKEND. NEW MODEL GUIDANCE SUGGEST
WE MAY NOT EVEN GO ABOVE FREEZING IN SOME LOCATIONS SATURDAY
AFTERNOON AND LOWS SUNDAY ONCE AGAIN IN THE TEENS. WILL CONTINUE
TO UNDERCUT GUIDANCE THROUGHOUT THE FORECAST.

THE LONG RANGE GUIDANCE IS BECOMING MORE CLEAR AS A STRONG WAVE
APPROACHES TEXAS FROM THE WEST MONDAY NIGHT. ANOTHER TROUGH WILL
DIVE DOWN FROM CANADA AROUND THE SAME TIME FRAME SENDING THE NEXT
FRONT INTO THE REGION. MODELS ARE IN AGREEMENT THAT PRECIP WILL
ACCOMPANY THIS SYSTEM AND TIMING OF THE FRONT WILL BE KEY AS TO
WHAT TYPE OF PRECIP IT WILL BE. WILL ONLY MENTION RAIN FOR NOW

http://forecast.weather.gov/product.php ... glossary=1

[Tejas89]

Well, Dalhart reported 60F at 12:53.

Now? 39. Looks like it's just blowing through Amarillo now.

[Ntxw]

Recent memory is that usually we are relatively warm and big swings of temperatures as strong cold fronts dives through and free fall. However it's already cold and hard press to believe it gets colder . If I recall correctly, the coldest air masses in history to hit Texas didn't come through free falling temperatures immediately. It came in waves colder and colder until the mother load comes down. To think this could happen in an el nino year is even more amazing to me.

[TexasStorm]

Anyone else notice that NWS Ft Worth has not put out an update all day on their disccusion?

[gboudx]

Anyone else notice that NWS Ft Worth has not put out an update all day on their disccusion?

The PM AFD is out now. The website has been slow most of the day though.

[srainhoutx]

Anyone else notice that NWS Ft Worth has not put out an update all day on their disccusion?

The PM AFD is out now. The website has been slow most of the day though.

The Southern Regional HQ has been slow all day. Probably the biggest news I see is the cold air will be slower to retreat than guidance suggests over the weekend looking at various AFD's from across TX.

[gboudx]

Here's the AFD if you can't get to the website.

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
347 PM CST WED JAN 6 2010

.DISCUSSION...
ISENTROPIC UPGLIDE BENEATH 800MB HAS DEVELOPED AND MAINTAINED
STRATUS DECK ACROSS MUCH OF CWA TODAY. ADDITIONAL MOIST ADVECTION
THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS WILL RESULT IN SOME LIGHT RAIN. FRONT STILL
ON SCHEDULE FOR ARRIVAL IN NORTHWEST ZONES LATE EVENING...RAPIDLY
SWEEPING THROUGH CWA DURING FIRST PERIOD. PRECIP-PRODUCING LAYER
WILL BE THIN AND LIFT WITHIN IT WILL SHUT OFF SOON AFTER FROPA.
POTENTIAL FOR SOME POSTFRONTAL FREEZING DRIZZLE BUT PRECIPITATION
PROCESS WILL BE SHUTTING DOWN NEAR WHEN SFC TEMPS REACH FREEZING.
WILL MAINTAIN FREEZING DRIZZLE MENTION SOME AREAS...BUT EXPECT
ROADWAYS TO BE WHISKED DRY BY STRONG WINDS BEFORE THERE ARE ISSUES
WITH ICE.

POSTFRONTAL SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS WILL BE 25 TO 35 MPH...WITH
OCCASIONAL GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 40 MPH. WIND ADVISORY WILL BEGIN IN
NW ZONES IN THE OVERNIGHT PERIOD...AND BE IN EFFECT AREAWIDE FOR
THE DAYTIME PERIOD. WIND CHILLS WILL BE EXTRAORDINARY ON THURSDAY.
ALTHOUGH WINDS WILL DIMINISH THURSDAY NIGHT...THEY WILL NOT
SUBSIDE...AND SOME OF THE LOWEST WIND CHILLS WILL OCCUR THURSDAY
NIGHT WHEN TEMPERATURES PLUMMET.

CLOUD COVER SOUTHERN HALF WILL KEEP HIGHS BELOW FREEZING FRIDAY...
BUT EVEN WHERE THERE IS SUNSHINE...IT WILL BE VERY COLD. HIGHS MAY
BE NEAR 20F ALONG RED RIVER. COLDEST NIGHT STILL APPEARS TO BE
SATURDAY MORNING WHEN WINDS ARE THE LIGHTEST AND SKIES ARE CLEAR.
EXPECT SINGLE DIGITS IN SOME LOCATIONS OF NORTH AND WEST. AS IS
TYPICALLY THE CASE...WARMING TREND THEREAFTER WILL BE MUCH SLOWER
THAN GUIDANCE SUGGESTS.

[srainhoutx]

I'll repost the afternoon e-mail from Jeff...in the TX Winter Weather Topic...

NWS has issued a Hard Freeze Warning for all SE TX counties starting at 900pm Thursday through 900am Sunday.

Extended period of very cold sub-freezing temperatures are forecast.

Preparations to protect plants, pipes, and pets should be completed this evening.

Massive arctic high pressure plowing into TX this afternoon with storng boundary currently blasting through the panhandle. Front should reach the coast by 600am Thursday with cold air and very strong NW winds lagging the boundary a few hours. Will see temperatures steadily fall to freezing by early evening Thursday and based on the latest guidance...will likley not rise above freezing Friday along and N of US 59 due to thick mid level clouds. Some areas may remain at or below freezing for up to 60 hours from Thursday evening to midday Sunday creating a threat to any exposed pipes without older exterior walls or on the outside of structures.

See no need at this time to mess with temperatures much from this morning. Could probably go a few degrees lower around Victoria...maybe a few upper teens down that way Sat/Sun AM and could see a few loactions N of HWY 105 fall into the mid teens. For now feel this mornings temperatures continue to cover the upcoming event well and the damage will be done regardless of a few degrees difference here and there.

This event looks slightly colder and possibly longer duration than the 1996 event and may need to go back to 1990 for a comparison outbreak with the many hours at or below freezing.

[Texas Snowman]

As to blue northers, I have seen several "classic" ones here in the Red River Valley since moving here as a kid in 1979. Dark wall of clouds to the north, sudden windshift, and MAJOR temp drops w/in minutes. One I remember best was when I was in high school in the 1980s. Temps on a March day were in upper 70s, front roared through, and next morning it was well below freezing with a couple of inches of snow on the ground!

BTW, heard from a friend in OKC that their schools are out next two days due to extreme cold and bitter wind chills.

[Texas Snowman]

Couple of other things.

First, I noticed very heavy bird feeding activity today around the house. Amazing ability that God gives critters who can't listen to forecasters or read model data!

Also, one thing to watch across state will be a huge spike in power demand. I remember local schools dismissing because of cold snap demands on the grid and natural gas supplies.

Finally, if you know elderly people or ill people who live in poorly insulated houses, check on them...

[txagwxman]

Ok so with a front this cold moving in would it be considered a blue norther'? With that in mind has anyone ever really seen one move in? I have heard stories from people who claim that the sky is a darker shade of blue off to the north due to the air being very dense and cold. Is this true? Does anyone have some pictures or videos of this? To bad this front is moving in overnight........

I remember one from the early 90's (don't remember the year...sorry). I knew it was coming and was waiting for it. I grabbed all 6 children, and we stood on the back patio to wait for it. It was a nice 70 degree day, and in the North, it was such a deep, dark blue you would have thought a thunderstorm was coming. The first thing we noticed was the wind (obviously), but what was odd, is that we started hearing the wind before a blade of grass ever moved. Then, from about 1/4 mile away, the trees began to bow over, and the grass in the fields began to wave. It took a couple of minutes, but we could literally "see" the blue norther as it approached, then WHAM! The force of the wind was amazing when it finally hit our bodies! One of the wonderful miracles of nature that my kids got to experience. I've waited for years for another experience like that, but it's never happened. Even with the front coming through today, it will probably be dark before it reaches us here in Denton. I hope you get to experience one!

Dec 1990 blue norther...it was 35F in College Station, 16F Dallas, 80F in Houston. I drove to the front and u could see it coming by the mirage over the ground (warm ground caused a strong density gradient). Instantly the temperature dropped to 53F at the front. By 9PM it was 32F in Houston, and by morning it was 16-17F.

[Ptarmigan]

Dec 1990 blue norther...it was 35F in College Station, 16F Dallas, 80F in Houston. I drove to the front and u could see it coming by the mirage over the ground (warm ground caused a strong density gradient). Instantly the temperature dropped to 53F at the front. By 9PM it was 32F in Houston, and by morning it was 16-17F.

I remember the December 1990 freeze too. It was warm and sunny right before the cold front came. It was windy after the front passed.