Area winter storm impacts travel, milder for Amarillo than other parts of Texas
As many areas throughout the state of Texas are still facing the aftermath of the recent winter storm, Amarillo received much milder weather conditions. However, several flights were delayed or canceled, according to the Rick Husband International Airport's website. In addition, the Texas Department of Transportation issued a travel advisory during possibly hazardous conditions expected Wednesday afternoon into Thursday morning.
A chance of rain showers, snow showers, and freezing rain was possible in parts of the Texas Panhandle, with the southeast portion having the highest chance of ice affecting travel. The ice storm warning impacted much of the Lone Star State, and TxDOT urged motorists to "drive responsibly, drive to conditions, practice safe driving habits and heed travel warnings during winter weather events. Checking road conditions at www.DriveTexas.org or calling 800-452-9292 before heading out is encouraged to avoid encountering potentially hazardous conditions."
As for the Amarillo area, although the milder conditions meant less power outages and traffic accidents than some of the neighboring regions including Lubbock, as well as the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and part of the I-35 corridor, it also left a need for more precipitation to mitigate current ongoing drought conditions.
Throughout the last few weeks, Amarillo and the surrounding area has faced some snowfall and a few flurries, but oftentimes the amount of precipitation was not enough to be registered, according to the National Weather Service of Amarillo. In fact, the total amount of precipitation for the month of January in Amarillo was only a quarter of an inch — mainly as a result of the snowfall the area received Jan. 24.
According to Joanne Culin, warning coordination meteorologist for the NWSA, the average amount of precipitation received in Amarillo for the month of January is .71 inches, which means Amarillo is almost half an inch below normal for the month of January. The meteorologist stated that although any precipitation received does positively affect the area in terms of the current drought, the amount received over the past month was not enough to majorly affect the area's conditions.
When speaking about comparison of why areas surrounding the Texas Panhandle received more precipitation, Culin explained the reason for these differences lies in the system's pressure and atmospheric temperature.
"Overall these conditions depend on the track of the lower pressure systems and how cold the entire profile of the atmosphere is," Culin said. "When we look at winter precipitation, we look at how the entire atmosphere looks, so it's not just the temperature at the surface. If there are any bit of the atmosphere that gets above freezing, the ice crystals in the atmosphere melts and turns into rain, but when it says freezing or below, that is when we see freezing rain and sleet like in the Lubbock and the Dallas/Fort Worth area that had a mixture of the two that is definitely more treacherous, leading to travel and power issues."
Culin said that at this time, they do not see any more upcoming precipitation opportunities within the next week, but this could change as storms develop and we move into more spring like conditions throughout the month.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Amarillo avoids worst of winter storm, has low January precipitation
