Jan 9 2025 Winter Storm

Overview

An upper level system moved across the combined Panhandles on January 9th, 2025. The setup was uniquely favorable for a portion of the Texas Panhandle to receive prolonged snowfall as well as a multi-hour window during the afternoon and evening where heavy snowfall occurred. A slower system, better moisture quality, cold front temperature reinforcement, Canadian River Valley enhancements, and several other surface level and atmospheric factors culminated to provide several inches of snow for the Panhandles. The onset of the event began around 5AM for the southern Texas Panhandle and the system slowly progressed northward. By 7-8AM, multiple locations in the south-central Texas Panhandle, like Amarillo, Pampa, and Canyon, were reporting snowfall between 1-2 inches with more well on the way. That morning, enough of a convective component was at play that there were also reports of thundersnow. There was a small lull in the activity in the late morning, around the 10AM-12PM timeframe, due to some drier air that intruded through the Texas Panhandle. Just after noontime, the second band of snow began to traverse across the area as it moved in from the west and south. Locations in the south-central Texas Panhandle started to see heavy snow from then until around 7PM as a result. Moderate to heavy snow still continued for areas downstream of the Canadian River Valley during the evening. Snowfall eventually tapered off close to midnight, but light snowfall and flurries still continued till around 3AM. Strong surface winds initiated in the afternoon and lasted through much of the night. Wind speeds even gusted to 60 mph near Dalhart for a continuous, roughly 25 minute period. Other areas in the western Panhandles also witnessed gusts between 40-50 mph. Blizzard-like conditions had developed intermittently for those areas, while blowing snow sharply reduced visibility in other locations despite sustained winds ranging from 15-25 mph. Final storm total snow amounts ranged from 6-12 inches for portions of the Texas Panhandle under the Winter Storm Warning. Areas to the north and south of the heaviest band received between 1-4 inches. Drifts were reported to be as high as 10 feet.

• Snow/Ice
• Photos & Video
• Radar
• Environment

Snow/Ice

The main snow band that developed near and south of the Canadian River produced widespread 6-12" of snow where snowfall amounts north and south of that snow band dropped off quite a bit, some areas within a very short distance. The heaviest snowfall occurred where banding and terrain effects from the Canadian River Valley overlapped, and this was mostly along and just south of I-40 west of Amarillo.  

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Photos & Video

This photo was taken off of FM 1541 northeast of Canyon. (source: Aaron Ward)	Winds picked up around sunset which led to low visibility and near blizzard conditions (source: Brett Muscha)	Large snow drift in Amarillo. (source: Corbin Voges)	Blanket of snow over 34th & Arnot Rd. (source: Garret Williams)

Canyon, TX (Aaron Ward)

Canyon, TX (Aaron Ward)

Canadian, TX (Cosme Alberto Guillen)

Amarillo, TX (Douglas Weber)

Amarillo, TX (Like Norma)

Vega, TX on I-40 (Ross N Windy Montgomery)

West Texas A&M University, TX (Heather Ferrell)

River Falls, TX (Julie Venhous)

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Radar

Fig 1: Snowfall started early in the morning across the southern Texas Panhandle, with many locations seeing accumulations over 1" by sunrise.	Fig 2: By mid to late morning, an apparent southwest northeast band developed, producing snowfall rates over 1"/hr.	Fig 3: By mid to late afternoon, the band persisted with very minor decrease in snowfall rates.	Fig 4: Most of the area snowfall decreased after sunset, except for areas where the Canadian River Valley upslope enhancement helped keep snowfall rates higher.

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Environment

Figure 1: 700 mb setup from CONUS view.  Shows a large low south of the Four Corners.  This low was originally projected a bit further south and had a more positive tilt, pushing most of the moisture south and east of the Panhandles.  A couple days before the system arrived a secondary low developed near the Four Corners and helped provide this setup, that allowed more moisture and lift to the Panhandle region, and enhance the snowfall amounts.	Figure 2: Same 700mb image but zoomed into the southern high plains.  Look at the wind field.  It shows good convergence right along the HWY 60 Canadian River and that was the area projected for enhanced snowfall.	Figure 3: The surface analysis shows the winds at the surface out of the north, which is another aspect that favors upslope Canadian River Enhancement.

 

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