December 2017: End Of The Year Weather

[srainhoutx]

Picking up here as well with larger snow flakes falling. Seeing some brighter banding just to my West and Southwest via radar.

[Rip76]

Getting the dry slot here in Pearland.

[don]

its now snowing here in the Heights!

[Belmer]

Going back the past 24 hours...

GFS/NAM only had about half an inch or less of snow here in SE TX yesterday/last night. This morning models were only showing about an inch for our area. Models this afternoon started showing about 1-2 inches. 18z runs tonight were aggressive in showing 2-3 inches. So the trend certainly is there for snow lovers.

NAM models are continuing to show 2-3 inches near Houston, with right along the coast (Galveston Islands) having 4-5 inches.
The NAM has done a remarkable job with this forecast showing this days ago as no other models were. NAM has a history of doing well for winter weather synoptics in Texas...

With that said, I don't think any models today (before 18z) showed more than an inch (that is being generous) of snow north of I-10 near and around College Station. The mesoband really set up nicely and estimates look to already be near 3 inches with some spots I'm seeing of up to 4 inches. Impressive storm already to say the least. The atmosphere is quickly cooling to near freezing at the surface all the way up where it is snowing to the north of us. I expect ice to be a problem for those areas early in the morning hours. What will be interesting here is how quickly we can cool off once the snow starts falling and how that could have an impact on our roads. As others have stated, don't expect much accumulations on roadways, but if we get a heavy meso band, minor travel problems could be possible, especially along bridges. Watching the formation of rain/snow to the SW of us south of San Antonio. That looks to be our fun as we head into the next few hours.
Would not be the least bit surprised to see much more snow than being forecasted from Corpus to our area as we wake up in the morning.

[srainhoutx]

Thursday night Snow Update from Jeff:

Forecast has not gone as plan…as it never does when dealing with winter weather down here.

Meso scale snow band has established over our NW counties yielding 3-5 inches over College Station to San Antonio. Collage Station picked up over 2 inches in 90 minutes this evening in heavy snow. Meso band is sliding SE, but show weaken with time. Rain/snow line is roughly to US 59 corridor and moving SE. Moderate snow bands currently near Jersey Village and out west near Austin County. Surface temperatures are already freezing down to Huntsville to CLL so not expecting much melting…with temps. down to 36 in NW Harris.

Think snow bands will actually increasing over the southern 2/3rds of the region tonight as strong lift comes to bear across the region. Given what has already happened to our NW, appears meso bands may result in quick accumulations on elevated surfaces. Nearly impossible to determine where such bands will form…we are at Winter Storm Warning criteria over our NW counties currently with current accumulation amounts.

RLoadways even in heavy snow areas doing ok with residual ground warmth…some slick (icy) spots reported near Snook and some surface streets in CLL are snow covered. As intensities change expect surface streets to melt…but elevated surface may maintain snow all night NW areas.

NAM may be the correct model in all this which has been showing 2-3 inches accumulation for central counties including Harris/metro Houston tonight. Will need meso banding to accomplish any totals of this magnitude, but considering it has happened over our NW counties, will not discount it especially considering the expectation that the air mass near CLL would be too dry to support more than flurries.

[DoctorMu]

Going back the past 24 hours...

GFS/NAM only had about half an inch or less of snow here in SE TX yesterday/last night. This morning models were only showing about an inch for our area. Models this afternoon started showing about 1-2 inches. 18z runs tonight were aggressive in showing 2-3 inches. So the trend certainly is there for snow lovers.

NAM models are continuing to show 2-3 inches near Houston, with right along the coast (Galveston Islands) having 4-5 inches.
The NAM has done a remarkable job with this forecast showing this days ago as no other models were. NAM has a history of doing well for winter weather synoptics in Texas...

With that said, I don't think any models today (before 18z) showed more than an inch (that is being generous) of snow north of I-10 near and around College Station. The mesoband really set up nicely and estimates look to already be near 3 inches with some spots I'm seeing of up to 4 inches. Impressive storm already to say the least. The atmosphere is quickly cooling to near freezing at the surface all the way up where it is snowing to the north of us. I expect ice to be a problem for those areas early in the morning hours. What will be interesting here is how quickly we can cool off once the snow starts falling and how that could have an impact on our roads. As others have stated, don't expect much accumulations on roadways, but if we get a heavy meso band, minor travel problems could be possible, especially along bridges. Watching the formation of rain/snow to the SW of us south of San Antonio. That looks to be our fun as we head into the next few hours.
Would not be the least bit surprised to see much more snow than being forecasted from Corpus to our area as we wake up in the morning.

UPDATE: 5.0 inches total IMBY here in CLL. The band set up from New Braunfels to Bryan and the cold air hit it and the column just right. A freakin miracle.

[sau27]

Snow/graupel falling in Bellaire

[Ounce]

Snow at Chimney Rock and Katy Freeway. When can I do donuts in the parking lots?

[CAK]

Snow mixed with Graupel turning more to snow as times passes here in Kingwood.

[Andrew]

heavy snow here on the beltway and westheimer

[don]

Getting moderate snow in the heights now!

[cperk]

Getting a show here in Richmond.

[redneckweather]

Finally all snow now here near Lake Conroe Dam, light to moderate and starting to accumulate on surface. My devil's advocate approach paid off.

[MontgomeryCoWx]

Big flakes and moderate in Magnolia

[DoctorMu]

The map now looks like the Canadian model from last night - within about 30 miles of getting the band of snow just right.

[srainhoutx]

Another Snow Update from Jeff:

Snow transition is along and north of a line from Victoria to Sugar Land to Kingwood.

UH sounding launched at 900pm shows the air column over Houston has cooled by 2-3 degrees since noon and the surface warm layer has shrunk…end result is snow if reaching the ground. Intense meso scale band has developed SE of San Antonio with accumulation rates of 1-2 inches per hour from Gonzales to Cotulla. Also seeing meso band enhancement from Columbus to Sealy along I-10 and accumulations on elevated surface around East Bernard. Meso banding will become critical overnight where heavy snow will lower temperatures to near freezing allowing localized accumulations. Surface temps. up NW are 32 at CLL and they are reporting calm winds indicating the wind device is now frozen. Wet bulb temperatures along US 59 are near 33 degrees, indicating how low temps. can fall. Tomball is already down to 34, but dewpoint and wet bulb of 33 should not allow for much more drop.

Will see coastal sites switch to all snow over the next 2 hours and temps will fall quickly into the mid 30’s. Likely will see moderate to heavy snow develop over the coastal bend around midnight with hefty banding supporting 4-5 inches of accumulation around CRP and 1-2 up to VCT and possibly Wharton and Bay City.

So far few reports of ice issues up NW around CLL…suggesting bridges have held enough warmth (it was in the 80’s on Monday) to keep ice from forming. TXDOT Bryan district is report some icy patches on some FM roads, but considering they had 3-6 inches of snow not man reports. Think as temps. fall into the 29-31 range from CLL to Huntsville ice will begin to form on bridges and overpasses. May see some icing as far south as HWY 105 overnight on elevated surfaces as temps. fall below freezing.

[Rip76]

Starting to snow in Pearland.

[Heat Miser]

Absolutely nothing at I45 & 528 or NASA 1.

[davidiowx]

It’s beem snowing out in Richmond for a good 45 min. No accumulations yet, but periods of very big snow flakes

[Rip76]

Absolutely nothing at I45 & 528 or NASA 1.

Shouldn't be too long.