Christmas forecast including the Oklahoma Panhandle, from the National Weather Service, Amarillo, Texas

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX

 SAT DEC 22 2012

CIMARRON-TEXAS-BEAVER-DALLAM-SHERMAN-HANSFORD-OCHILTREE-LIPSCOMB-
HARTLEY-MOORE-HUTCHINSON-ROBERTS-HEMPHILL-OLDHAM-POTTER-CARSON-
GRAY-WHEELER-DEAF SMITH-RANDALL-ARMSTRONG-DONLEY-COLLINGSWORTH-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF…BOISE CITY…KEYES…GUYMON…BEAVER…
FORGAN…DALHART…STRATFORD…SPEARMAN…GRUVER…PERRYTON…
BOOKER…HIGGINS…FOLLETT…HARTLEY…CHANNING…DUMAS…
BORGER…MIAMI…CANADIAN…VEGA…AMARILLO…PANHANDLE…
WHITE DEER…PAMPA…SHAMROCK…WHEELER…HEREFORD…CANYON…
CLAUDE…CLARENDON…WELLINGTON
SAT DEC 22 2012

…SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW EXPECTED CHRISTMAS DAY…

THE COMBINATION OF VERY COLD AIR AND INCREASING LOW LEVEL MOISTURE
AHEAD OF AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL ALLOW FOR SNOW TO DEVELOP
LATE CHRISTMAS EVE NIGHT THROUGH CHRISTMAS DAY. 

SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE…MAINLY BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND
2PM ON CHRISTMAS DAY…ACROSS THE OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS PANHANDLES. SNOW
ACCUMULATIONS BETWEEN 2 TO 4 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE NORTH OF A LINE
FROM DALHART TO SHAMROCK. SOUTH OF THIS LINE…SNOW AMOUNTS WILL
GENERALLY RANGE FROM A LIGHT DUSTING TO LESS THAN 2 INCHES. THE SNOW
IS EXPECTED TO END FROM WEST TO EAST BY LATE CHRISTMAS AFTERNOON.

WITH STRONG NORTHERLY WIND GUSTS AS HIGH AS 35MPH…BLOWING SNOW
WILL RESULT AND COULD POTENTIALLY CAUSE VISIBILITIES TO DROP BELOW
ONE MILE AT TIMES. IN ADDITION TO THE SNOW…BITTERLY COLD
TEMPERATURES…WITH WIND CHILLS BELOW ZERO…CAN BE EXPECTED
CHRISTMAS EVENING AND NIGHT.

THERE ARE STILL SOME UNCERTAINTIES WITH REGARDS TO THE TRACK OF THIS
STORM SYSTEM AND SNOW AMOUNTS. ANY DEVIATION TO THE SOUTH COULD
POTENTIALLY IMPACT SNOW AMOUNT TOTALS ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE SOUTHERN
TEXAS PANHANDLE. HOWEVER…CONFIDENCE DOES REMAIN FAIRLY HIGH WITH
THE TIMING OF THE SNOW.

IF YOU ARE PLANNING HOLIDAY TRAVEL ACROSS THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA
PANHANDLES…PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE LATEST FORECASTS…STATEMENTS
AND ADVISORIES FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AMARILLO. CHECK
FREQUENTLY FOR UPDATES BY VISITING OUR WEB PAGE AT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/AMA…
FOLLOWING NWS AMARILLO ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER…LISTENING TO NOAA
WEATHER RADIO…OR THROUGH YOUR PREFERRED MEDIA OUTLET.

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