NWS WFO Lubbock 2010 Weather Event Page

March Comes in Like a Lion!

Feb 28 - Mar 1, 2010

Radar animation from 5:08 am to 6:18 am on March 1, 2010.  Much of the precipitation at this time was rain, though snow was beginning to mix in across the Texas Panhandle and South Plains.

Yet another strong storm system moved across the South Plains this season, this one just in time to open the month of March.  This storm system took a track that has been historically favored to produced heavy amounts of snow across the South Plains and Rolling Plains, moving directly across the northern Permian Basin. However, this particular storm was lacking in cold air, which helped significantly mitigate the potential wintry affects. Still, many locations did receive a brief bout of snow as temperatures dropped just enough at the tail end of the storm. For the most part, a dusting of snow was all that was observed, though there were a few exceptions. The southern Rolling Plains, including Jayton and Aspermont reported a third to half inch of snow. Also, a terrain favored region on the south side of Palo Canyon received enhanced snow, with Silverton reporting 2 inches and Vigo Park getting 1 inch. 

Even though a little snow did fall, the main story was another round of widespread beneficial rain. This storm system was initially moisture starved, but with time if began to draw in better amounts of Gulf of Mexico moisture. This allowed the rain shield to blossom across the region late Sunday night (Feb 28). The precipitation then took its sweet time exiting the region to the east during the day Monday (Mar 1). Everyone from the extreme southern Texas Panhandle through the South Plains and Rolling Plains received precipitation, with areas of the central South Plains into the Rolling Plains seeing anywhere from a half inch to an inch and a half. The below map illustrates the spatial distribution of the preciptation.

Graphic displaying 2-day rainfall totals, in inches, from February 28 - March 1, 2010. Rain totals are courtesy of the West Texas Mesonet and the National Weather Service. Click on the image for a larger view.