A strong upper level storm system combined with an arctic airmass and abundant moisture produced moderate to heavy snows across West Texas and Southeast New Mexico on November 27-28, 2001. The heaviest snows fell in the eastern Permian Basin and in isolated areas near Alpine in northern Brewster county eastward into western Pecos county. A new record daily snowfall was set at the Midland international airport, where 8 inches of snow fell in a 24 hour period. The old record was 6.8 inches of snow which fell in a 24 hour period in January 1974. The record 24 hour snowfall for Midland was 9.8 inches which occurred in December 1998.
The following plot shows snow totals across the area.
The follow image is a GOES-8 visible satellite depiction of the snowcover following the event.
The follow image is a NOAA-16 (polar orbiting) satellite depiction of the snowcover following the event in infrared.
The visible satellite animation below was taken November 29, 2001 from 14:32Z to 20:45Z,one day after a record setting heavy snow storm affected areas from Northern Mexico, East New Mexico, West Texas, and Oklahoma. This shows the extent of the snow coverage from the record setting November snow storm.
Visible satellite animation is an excellent tool for delineating snow coverage. Clouds present in the image, especially high circus clouds do not show up well on visible and normally are in motion. Thus the white pattern that does not move generally could be considered snow cover. But not all of the white pattern is snow. White Sands over south-central New Mexico maintains this appearance year round.
If you look closely, you may notice some landmarks on the satellite image. Some of them have been annotated on the below still image. The heaviest snow occurred from the Davis Mountains, to around Midland/Odessa, to Wichita Falls and into Oklahoma. Amounts within this band ranged from 6-12 inches.
NOUS44 KMAF 291754 PNSMAF PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 1153 AM CST THU NOV 29 2001 ...SNOWFALL TOTALS ACROSS WEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO... THE FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF SNOWFALL TOTALS ACROSS WEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO RECEIVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN MIDLAND FOR NOVEMBER 27-28 2001: ...WEST TEXAS... LOCATION SNOWFALL AMOUNT ANDREWS COUNTY 3 INCHES BORDEN COUNTY (GAIL) 3-4 INCHES BORDEN COUNTY (EASTERN) 6-8 INCHES BREWSTER COUNTY (ALPINE) 8 INCHES BREWSTER COUNTY (BIG BEND PARK) 1 INCH CRANE COUNTY 4 INCHES CULBERSON COUNTY (VAN HORN) 3 INCHES DAWSON COUNTY (LAMESA) 7 INCHES ECTOR COUNTY 5 INCHES GAINES COUNTY 2 INCHES GLASSCOCK COUNTY 4-5 INCHES HOWARD COUNTY 8-9 INCHES JEFF DAVIS COUNTY (FORT DAVIS) 3-5 INCHES JEFF DAVIS COUNTY (MT. LOCKE) 1.5 INCHES LOVING COUNTY (MENTONE) 1 INCH MARTIN COUNTY 5 INCHES MIDLAND COUNTY (NWS) 8 INCHES MIDLAND COUNTY (GREENWOOD) 10 INCHES MITCHELL COUNTY 7-9 INCHES PECOS COUNTY (FORT STOCKTON) 3-6 INCHES PRESIDIO COUNTY (MARFA) 2 INCHES REAGAN COUNTY 4-6 INCHES REEVES COUNTY (PECOS) 0.5 INCHES SCURRY COUNTY 8-10 INCHES TERRELL COUNTY (SANDERSON) 2-3 INCHES UPTON COUNTY 3-4 INCHES WARD COUNTY (GRAND FALLS) 5 INCHES WINKLER COUNTY (KERMIT) 2-3 INCHES ...SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO... LOCATION SNOWFALL AMOUNT EDDY COUNTY 3 INCHES LEA COUNTY (HOBBS) 3 INCHES LEA COUNTY (JAL) 2 INCHES THESE TOTALS HAVE BEEN VERIFIED WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS AND AREA COOPERATIVE OBSERVERS. THIS LIST WILL BE UPDATED IF ADDITIONAL REPORTS ARE RECEIVED. $$ CLL
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