Thursday, March 26, 2009

CO/KS/OK Blizzard update

Things are really starting to get crazy out there. Lots of spots along the Colorado front range are already experiencing full blizzard conditions - 12-15" of snow with 30-40mph winds over the last 12 hrs or so... Longmont, Boulder, Monument are all reporting drifts of snow of 3 feet or more.

Tomorrow, I'm betting I-70 will be closed, and the Wichita area, and other parts of south central Kansas and NW Oklahoma are expecting what may be the most snow in history for the area. (this after already getting the biggest rainstorm in history last year!)

Here's what Wichita NWS has to say:

THE BULK OF THE HEAVY WET SNOW AND WIND LOOK TO AFFECT MUCH
OF THE AREA FROM FRIDAY EVENING INTO MIDDAY SATURDAY. THE
INTENSE CLOSED LOW WILL TRACK ACROSS OKLAHOMA DURING THIS
TIME FRAME...WITH IMPRESSIVE ISENTROPIC AND DYNAMIC LIFT
ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA. A WELL DEVELOPED TROWAL AND SOME
FRONTOGENETIC BANDING LOOK TO TRANSITION EAST ACROSS SOUTH
CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS...CENTERED ALONG THE HIGHWAY 54
CORRIDOR. THEREFORE HAVE PLACED THE HIGHEST SNOW TOTALS
IN THE GENERAL AREA...WITH AMOUNTS IN THE 8 TO 14 INCH
RANGE. WILL LIKELY REALIZE THE HIGHER END OF THIS RANGE IN
AREAS OF CONVECTION/THUNDERSNOW WHICH IS EXPECTED AS WELL.
THE HEAVY SNOWFALL AND STRONG WINDS WILL RESULT IN NEAR
BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ACROSS PARTS OF CENTRAL AND MUCH OF
SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS BY FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. DUE
TO THE LATE SEASON NATURE OF THIS EVENT...WITH SOME TREES
IN BLOOM AND WET NATURE OF THE HEAVY SNOW...HAVE DECIDED
TO GO WITH A BLIZZARD WARNING FOR PARTS OF CENTRAL AND
SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS. WILL KEEP THE WATCH GOING FOR AREAS
EAST OF THE TURNPIKE INTO SATURDAY...WITH A LATER ONSET
GIVING TIME FOR ASSESSMENT OF ANOTHER MODEL RUN OR TWO
BEFORE ISSUING ANY WARNINGS OR ADVISORIES. THAT SAID...THE
MODELS ARE SUPPORTIVE OF HEAVY SNOW AFFECTING AT LEAST
NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE FLINT HILLS AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS
LATE FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY.


So I have some choices to make, as I have to make it back to KC for a 4pm flight on Saturday... either hang out in Wichita with Jenn and Pat and Emery on Friday and wait for the storm to break, or head up now and at least spend the evening with them, before getting out Friday morning. I dunno... riding out Emery's first thundersnowstorm might be pretty fun! Tough call...

UPDATE: NWS Wichita just changed Wichita metro area from a Winter Storm Watch to a Blizzard Warning... yikes!

2 comments:

Dianne said...

did you make it out alive?? :-)

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