Southern Snow!
Dallas/Fort Worth Snow, Image: NOAA
Snow blanketed the Dallas/Fort Worth area this morning. The pictures above were taken from the National Weather Service Office in Fort Worth. Up to 8″ of snow is expected in some locations northwest of Dallas.
Winter Storm Warnings, Image: NOAA
Winter storm warnings are in effect across Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi today as a Gulf Low slams into a frigid air mass over the Southern Plains. A warm, moist air mass following the southern jet stream is being driven into the cold, dry air mass. Sleet is already being reported in areas outside New Orleans, LA.
Places like Jackson, Mississippi and Shreveport, Louisiana could receive up to 6 inches of snow.
Meanwhile, the East Coast is digging out from the latest pile up of snow. The back to back storms have shut down the nation’s capital.
Snow Depth, Image: NOAA
The graphic above shows the snow depth in the Mid-Atlantic region as of today. The areas in dark blue have recorded more than 30 inches of snow. You can see South Jersey, Southern Pennsylvania, Northern Virginia, Maryland, D.C. and Delaware are covered with 3 feet of snow.
Luckily, it appears the latest gulf storm will track off the coast of the Carolinas, and will not affect the metropolitan areas of D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia.
-Dawn Brown
Southern & Western Wallop
Yet another El Nino system is pulling into the California coast. One to three inches of rain has already fallen across the foothills surrounding the Sacramento Valley and more is on the way, creating flooding across many of the lower elevations. Up in the mountains near Lake Tahoe, near blizzard conditions are happening right now with a good 8 to 16 inches of snow on the way for skiers.
National Satellite Image, Image: NOAA
Click here for the latest national satellite imagery.
In the meantime, yet another El Nino storm is moving through the Deep South. This has provided for a couple of inches of rain across the central Gulf Coast and tornado watches from just north of New Orleans, all the way up into Mississippi, east Texas, and southern Arkansas. Tornadoes were even spotted Wednesday afternoon over portions of Southeastern Louisiana. Tornado Watches are in effect for cities like Jackson, MS.
US Watches & Warnings, Image: NOAA
Tropics Still Quiet! Cold Air Sweeping East…
Cool Air For Sunday, Image: Unisys Weather
Does this image look familiar? Okay, that might be a trick question. It’s probably been a long week for you too. But, I posted almost the exact same image from Unisys Weather on Monday, talking about the cool down on both coasts. It looks like the weather pattern is going to repeat itself for the beginning of next week, with cool Canadian air seeping into the forecast for the West Coast, Midwest and East Coast. Cooler, drier temperatures will make it as far south as Albuquerque, New Mexico and Jackson, Mississippi.
It may be jacket weather tonight for Friday Night Football.
Satellite Image 90L, Image: NOAA
The National Hurricane Center is watching a tropical wave in the Atlantic. The satellite imagery shows a less than impressive area of showers and thunderstorms, and NHC forecasters give it a less than 30% chance for development.
It’s going to be a quiet weekend in the tropics. Honestly, it’s October 2nd. I’ll keep watching the tropics, but it’s looking like a pretty uneventful year. Dry air and wind shear did a number on most developing storms.
I hope you had a chance to read my blog about the SAL and hurricanes. I’ll continue to update the article when I find out more information. Research regarding the Saharan Air Layer and its effect on hurricanes is ongoing. This year, however, the SAL was not widespread. Scientists are favoring the idea that El Nino and the wind shear that is associated with it, dry air, and the upper level wind pattern were the main reasons for the somewhat uneventful year in the Atlantic Ocean. I’ll talk more about that at the end of the season when we have some expert opinions on this topic.
Check out the new category on my page: Hurricane Special. It has an article about Dr. William Gray, the hurricane forecaster, and the Saharan Air Layer.
Also, Dr. Jeff Masters has the latest on the typhoon (hurricanes in the western Pacific) on his blog. The storms are lining up in the western Pacific Ocean. His blog is in the links to your left.
-Dawn Brown