In The Vortex

Tag: texas

  • Southern Plains Late March Winter Storm

    Yet another major winter storm has taken aim on the lower end of the Great Plains this weekend, hopefully this will be our last one and spring will fully kick in!

    This one is promising some impressive snow totals, as much as 8″ in Oklahoma, perhaps even more!  This could be crippling for the Oklahoma City metro area.

    Already Winter Storm Watches and Warnings as well as Winter Storm Advisories are up across all of Northwest Texas, the eastern half of New Mexico, and most of Oklahoma and Kansas!

    Light snow is already falling in some locations and blizzard conditions will exist in some places.  Some locations will most likely set new records for total winter snowfall during this event!

    Below are images from the National Weather Service Forecast Offices in Lubbock and Amarillo, TX as well as Norman, OK depicting the current forecast totals.

    Now is the time to take your winter weather preparations and safety precautions.

  • Texas Severe Weather Awareness Week February 21-27, 2010

    severeweatherawarenessdaylogo

    February 21st through February 27th has been proclaimed Severe Weather Awareness Week by Rick Perry, Governor of Texas.  Each year, the Texas Division of Emergency Management, the National Weather Service, local Emergency Management Coordinators, and other local officials join together to recognize Severe Weather Awareness Week.

    Every spring, dozens of Texans are injured or killed by hazardous weather associated with severe thunderstorms. Severe weather hazards include damaging winds, lightning, hail, flooding, and tornadoes. During the last week in May and the first week in June, more tornadoes occur on average on the Texas South Plains into the southern Panhandle than anywhere in the United States. 2010 is the 40th anniversary of the F5 Lubbock Tornado which killed 26 people and injured more than 1500 along its 8.5 mile track, while impacting approximately 15 square miles of the city of Lubbock.

    The National Weather Service Office in Lubbock would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone to begin preparing now for severe weather that is inevitable each Spring and early Summer in West Texas.

    As part of this campaign, the Lubbock National Weather Service will be hosting activities this week to increase awareness of severe weather hazards.

    A Severe Weather Awareness Day sponsored by the Texas Tech Student Chapter of the American Meteorological Society and the Lubbock NWS Office will be held at the Science Spectrum in Lubbock on Saturday, February 27th. NewsChannel 11 will also be on hand to help program your weather radio, and I will have my chase vehicle on display as well.

    This event will include educational sessions and hands on weather exhibits. The Lubbock NWS office will host an information booth, and conduct a Skywarn Spotter Training session. This class and the entire event are free and open to the public. For more information about this event, see the web link listed below.
    http://www.sciencespectrum.org/new/publicevents.shtml