Record-Breaking Snow in West Texas

As Meteorologist Candice King said in a previous post, heavy snow is impacting portions of central and western Texas tonight as a strong upper-level low continues to spin over the area. So far, Midland has received a record snowfall for the date of 10.4"! (The old record was 5.9" set back in 1955.) The seasonal record snowfall for Midland has also been smashed; 19.3" of snow has fallen so far this winter. The old seasonal record was 13.9" set back in 1946-47.

A Winter Storm Warning remains in-effect for much of western Texas. Here's more from the National Weather Service:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX
655 PM CST MON JAN 9 2012

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST
/11 PM MST/ TONIGHT...

A STRONG UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM OVER THE STOCKTON PLATEAU WILL CONTINUETO BRING PERIODS OF HEAVY SNOW TO PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO AND WEST TEXAS. SO FAR...SNOWFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR HAVE BEEN MEASURED IN THE HEAVIER SNOW BANDS. REPORTS AS HIGH AS 4 TO 8 INCHES HAVE RECEIVED IN WINK...ANDREWS... GREENWOOD... HOBBS...TARZAN...MIDLAND...ANDFORT STOCKTON. THE UPPER STORM SYSTEM REMAINS IN A FAVORABLE LOCATION FOR ADDITIONAL SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS INTO THE EVENING ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE PERMIAN BASIN...AND MAINLY NORTH OF INTERSTATE 20. LOCAL STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF 8 TO 10 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE IN A FEW LOCATIONS BY MIDNIGHT TUESDAY MORNING. SNOW WILL CONTINUE AFTER MIDNIGHT IN THE EASTERN PERMIAN BASIN AND WESTERN LOW ROLLING PLAINS.

NORTHERN LEA COUNTY-CENTRAL LEA COUNTY-SOUTHERN LEA COUNTY-GAINES-
DAWSON-BORDEN-SCURRY-ANDREWS-MARTIN-HOWARD-MITCHELL-LOVING-
WINKLER-ECTOR-MIDLAND-GLASSCOCK-WARD-CRANE-UPTON-REAGAN-PECOS-

INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...TATUM...HOBBS...LOVINGTON...EUNICE...
JAL...SEMINOLE...LAMESA...GAIL...SNYDER...ANDREWS...STANTON...
BIG SPRING...COLORADO CITY...MENTONE...RED BLUFF LAKE...KERMIT...
ODESSA...MIDLAND...GARDEN CITY...MONAHANS...CRANE...MCCAMEY...
RANKIN...BIG LAKE...FORT STOCKTON
655 PM CST MON JAN 9 2012 /555 PM MST MON JAN 9 2012/

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST
/11 PM MST/ TONIGHT...

* EVENT...MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW.

* TIMING...UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST /11 PM MST/ TONIGHT.

* IMPACTS...ROADWAYS MAY BECOME SNOW PACKED. VISIBILITIES WILL BE
REDUCED IN HEAVY SNOW. THE COMBINATION OF DROUGHT WEAKENED
TREES...SNOW LOADING ON TREE LIMBS...AND NORTHEAST WINDS NEAR 20
MPH WILL INCREASE THE POTENTIAL FOR BROKEN TREE LIMBS AND
THEREFORE POWER OUTAGES.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...4 TO 8 INCHES WITH LOCAL HIGHER AMOUNTS NEARING
10 INCHES POSSIBLE.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER
CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE FORECAST
THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS. ONLY TRAVEL IN AN EMERGENCY. IF
YOU MUST TRAVEL...KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT... FOOD...AND WATER IN
YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.