Snow Across the Great Lakes, Central Appalachians, and Northeast; Unsettled Weather in the West

Light to moderate snow will continue into Saturday over the Great Lakes, Central Appalachians, and Northeast. This weekend into next week, a series of atmospheric rivers will bring gusty winds, periods of heavy rain, and mountain snow to northern California and the Pacific Northwest. Colder temperatures are in store for the weekend from the Great Lakes to East Coast. Read More >

Significant snow accumulations accompanied a winter storm over west Texas on Tuesday, February 1st, 2005. The winter storm affected areas from the Davis Mountains northeast across the Upper Trans Pecos and the northwestern Permian Basin. The heaviest snow fell over the northwestern Permian Basin, where storm total snow accumulations piled up to seven inches. The storm caused dangerous driving conditions and contributed to several roll-over vehicle accidents.

Graphic of snowfall amounts

The figure shows storm total snow accumulations resulting from the February 1, 2005, winter storm in west Texas.

On Sunday, January 30th, the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Midland/Odessa issued a Winter Storm Outlook mentioning the potential for a significant winter storm on Tuesday. A Winter Storm Watch was posted for Tuesday early on Monday, January 31st, and was upgraded to a Winter Storm Warning by late that afternoon.

Light rain and drizzle transitioned to snow over the mountains of west Texas late Monday evening. Wintry precipitation then spread from west to east across the area through the pre-dawn hours Tuesday. By mid morning, a narrow band of heavy snow developed over the Upper Trans Pecos region of west Texas and stretched northeast across the northwestern Permian Basin. Snow quickly accumulated to significant depths beneath this heavy snow band as it persisted over Andrews, Dawson, Gaines, and northwestern Borden Counties through midday. Relatively warm ground temperatures helped to limit snow accumulations over much of the area, however, six to seven inch accumulations were common across the northwestern portions of the Texas Permian Basin.

Radar image of heavy snowfall across west Texas

Radar image from the Midland, Texas, 88D Doppler radar showing the enhanced band of heavy snowfall over the northwestern Permian Basin at 10:17 AM CST.

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Snow Across the Great Lakes, Central Appalachians, and Northeast; Unsettled Weather in the West

Heavy Snow, Davis Mountains, Upper Trans-Pecos, Western Permian Basin, February 1, 2005