Take a foot of snow and multiply it by about 3,000 square miles. That's a rough estimate of how much territory in the Texas Panhandle racked up at least 12 inches of snow from storms that moved into the region late Monday March 14th and continued through early Wednesday March 16th.
Though sunny weather Wednesday reduced much of the snow to gutter freshets, the numbers still are impressive to contemplate. In the Amarillo area, reported snow totals ranged from 11 to 13 inches, and the city's official storm total was 11.9 inches, as measured at the National Weather Service office. Of that figure, 11.2 inches of snow fell between midnight Monday and midnight Tuesday, according to the NWS. That 24-hour total set Amarillo's daily snowfall record for March 15, burying the previous daily record of 0.7 inch, set in 1978. The city also remains ahead for its year-to-date precipitation with 1.32 inches in March bringing the yearly total to 3.42 inches. That's 1.71 inches above normal for total precipitation received by this time of year, according to data from the NWS. Amarillo has received 15.1 inches of snow for the month and 36.8 inches of snow since Nov. 1 - 20.5 inches above the seasonal snowfall normally received by this time.
Extremely heavy snowfall and white-out conditions in New Mexico led Texas Department of Transportation officials to close westbound Interstate 40 on Tuesday, March 15, 2005 to traffic heading out of Amarillo for New Mexico.
Drivers in the local area had easier going, but the Amarillo Police Department still responded to 69 wrecks between midnight Tuesday and 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, including 20 traffic mishaps during morning rush hour, said APD Sergeant Randy TenBrink.
Police, however, had expected even more problems, TenBrink said."In some storms, by that time, we would be looking at 150 to 200 wrecks," he said. "We are pretty lucky this time."
Lieutenant Ben Urbancyzk of the Texas Department of Public Safety also said the storm did not pose as many traffic problems as troopers anticipated.
Paul Braun, a spokesman for TxDOT in Amarillo, said crews put in long hours, clearing area roads and highways from 11 p.m. Monday to midnight Tuesday. "The crews were working almost around the clock. Our guys did a great job," said Braun, adding motorists also did their part by staying out of the way of the snowplows. Photos by Michael Schumacher michael.schumacher@amarillo.com