REPORTS & PICS: 1/28/10 Southern Plains Winter Storm

[Adam Wolff]

Most if not all of Purcell is without power. Trees/large tree branches are down and blocking many streets. I'd estimate about an inch of ice accumulation and roughly a 1/4 of sleet.

Here is the end of a branch I measured when I got back home.(was dark, couldn't take pics)

 

[Mike Umscheid]

12" average snow depth in Dumas as of 7pm. There is a 5 foot snow drift in front of the hotel! Got a lot of images on foot walking around near the hotel. It's still coming down at a decent clip, very small flakes. We may squeeze another 2-3" before the whole thing ends for a grand total of 15" by wake-up time tomorrow morning. Then the dig-out begins! I plan to stay another day here and play photojournalist documenting the dig-out process

 

[Karen Politte]

Adam - that image of the iced twig is very impressive, and just a little scary! I think that is the severest of the severe that I have seen w/r/t ice storm accumulation......

I've always wondered - is ice accumulation measured as the whole, erm......"blob", or is it only from the center of the encased object to the outside of the encasing??

KP

 

[Charles Kuster]

The sleet here in Norman ended at about 5:45pm CST. Thanks to the dry slot, I was able to take a few pictures around the area. Windy conditions did make it difficult to take decent pictures. The trees would not quit moving!

As of 10:36pm CST light freezing rain is falling again, adding to our glaze total of about .4"-.5" that we received earlier in the day.

EDIT: Light freezing rain is still falling (100% freezing rain) as of 11:30pm CST. Ice accumulations are at .5" on trees. A metal fence near my apartment is approaching .7" of ice accumulation.

 

[Wesley Luginbyhl]

Here are a few pics around the Borger and Lake Meredith area today. This storm didn't dump as much snow as the December 2000 storm here, but the roads are just as bad. I got stuck backing up in our driveway in my Jeep Cherokee 4x4. That takes a lot of snow.

Picture from north side of Lake Meredith as last band of snow came through. Visibility was about 50 yards at this time.

Picture at Blue West Recreation Area. There was about 6 inches at this time. Area is probably inaccessible at this point.

Picture from here in Borger as the snow was finally ending here this evening.

Here are a few other pics:
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q122/not_a_leader_of_men/Jan 2010 Snow/DSC_0033.jpg
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q122/not_a_leader_of_men/Jan 2010 Snow/DSC_0030.jpg
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q122/not_a_leader_of_men/Jan 2010 Snow/DSC_0056.jpg

 

[Jason Boggs]

I've always wondered - is ice accumulation measured as the whole, erm......"blob", or is it only from the center of the encased object to the outside of the encasing??

KP

Karen, I think it's from the center of the encased object, not the whole blob.

 

[Adam Wolff]

Adam - that image of the iced twig is very impressive, and just a little scary! I think that is the severest of the severe that I have seen w/r/t ice storm accumulation......

I've always wondered - is ice accumulation measured as the whole, erm......"blob", or is it only from the center of the encased object to the outside of the encasing??

KP

I would think it's the diameter of the ice. The average width of that chunk was 1 1/4" minus the 1/8" twig in the center; so I believe you would officially call that 1 1/8" accumulation. That said I still stick to an average 1" accum on raised surfaces in Purcell.

 

[David Schuttler]

Extreme Makeover started on a house here in Tulsa today. Should make an interesting episode in a few months.

 

[Joshua Nall]

Karen, I think it's from the center of the encased object, not the whole blob.

That's what I was thinking also, cause if it were a flat object you would just measure the thickness of the ice on top. The ice on the bottom of the twig is water that rolls around and freezes. But then that brings up the question if it were a flat object the water might freeze to a greater depth since it can't immediately roll around...idk

 

[Jason Boggs]

I agree Joshua. I mean, what if you have a 5 inch branch with 1 inch if ice around it. You still just have an inch of ice on the surface of the branch.

 

[Adam Wolff]

That's what I was thinking also, cause if it were a flat object you would just measure the thickness of the ice on top. The ice on the bottom of the twig is water that rolls around and freezes. But then that brings up the question if it were a flat object the water might freeze to a greater depth since it can't immediately roll around...idk

Gotta admit, after I read you guys comments I started doubting myself and went to the CoCoRaHS website OUN had posted on their homepage in the past.
And...I stand corrected http://www.cocorahs.org/Media/Training/Training_IceAccreation.html.

 

[Chuck Robertson]

When the snow finally came to an end around midnight, we wound up with about 7 inches on the level here in Miami. I am very happy with that, considering that for a while I was beginning to wonder if we would even get half that. The last several hours of precipitation, especially around 7to9pm were quite impressive with very heavy snowfall rates.

The accumulated snow is very heavy and grainy. It appears to contain a lot of sleet, or small sleet clusters sort of bonded together to make a "snowflake". Dare I call them "sleetflakes"??? Had this event produced a fluffy snow, we would have had a much deeper snowcover here.

I plan to get out in the morning and take pictures of the beautiful snow covered mesas and the Caprock breaks of the eastern Texas Panhandle. When the sun comes out, this place should be breathtaking.

 

[Chris Wilburn]

Had off and on sleet here in Vinita since around 6pm. Freezing drizzle took over from 2330 to 0130. Light accumulations and really unable to measure right now. The bad news is the roads and parking lots are slick and covered with a thin layer of ice. Power is out here at work and we are running on a generator. Not sure if somebody hit a power pole or not because it doesn't seem like the frz rain we got was that bad. Power is flickering in places in town in Vinita as well.

 

[Mike Umscheid]

I am calling it 13.5" for a storm total snowfall in Dumas, TX. What a fun storm to document! I have put together an album of 50+ images which can be found at the following URL:

http://www.underthemeso.com/blog/?p=1172

I will do some more shooting around Dumas tomorrow as this town digs out.

 

[Karen Politte]

We have had heavy rain/ZR all night since about midnight here in Conway - but upon waking the temp is hovering around 30oF and exposed surfaces are developing 3-4" icicles. The roads are beginning to get glazed, and services are starting to shut early. Of course - today is one of those days where it's not bad enough to call in to work immediately, but as soon as you get to the office you might be turning around again pretty soon and finding a car-icicle-pop waiting for you in the parking lot......

Laid in bed for about 10 mins this morning before getting up, and had to listen to the local meteorologist on Channel 7 in Little Rock. And I quote: "But lemme tell ya somethin' folks......30oF does not an ice storm make, folks!". Wow - thanks buddy. Really?

As an aside - what is REALLY interesting is to take a look at the LZK surface ob map. The terrain in the Ozarks is creating a major problem with the cold air filtering into areas of western AR/eastern OK - these areas are really having a hard time getting down below freezing like the surrounding areas. You can literally trace the Arkansas river valley westwards from LZK by following the easterly winds as opposed to northeasterly winds. All rain for those guys right now....


KP