Heavy Snow from the Midwest into the Great Lakes; Locally Heavy Rain in the Western Gulf Coast

A significant winter storm will produce a broad area of moderate to heavy snow from the Midwest through the western Great Lakes. Significant snow accumulations of 6-12 inches, and locally more than 1 foot, and gusty wind may cause hazardous travel conditions. Thunderstorms, some severe, and showers may produce locally heavy rain and isolated flash flooding along the western Gulf Coast. Read More >

Heavy Snow Event

March 6, 2008

On 6 March 2008, a convective precipitation band formed across North Texas and quickly transitioned from rain to snow in a 60 km wide zone extending from west of the Dallas / Fort Worth metroplex northeast into extreme North Texas near the Red River. The snow persisted for over three hours with accumulations averaging 7 cm and isolated reports up to 30 cm near the heaviest convective precipitation. Frontogenesis and the resulting ageostrophic circulation appeared to play key roles in not only providing significant forcing for ascent but also in modifying the vertical temperature profile to be supportive of a liquid-to-frozen precipitation transition. The presence of atmospheric instability led to isolated thunderstorm development, with occasional cloud-to-ground and in-cloud lightning observed in the band of heavy snow. This study reviews the complex interactions between moisture, instability, and forcing for ascent that occurred during this convective winter weather event.

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Heavy Snow from the Midwest into the Great Lakes; Locally Heavy Rain in the Western Gulf Coast

March 6, 2008 Snow