Winter Storm Strikes West Texas!

February 1st, 2005

Significant snow accumulations accompanied a winter storm over west Texas on Tuesday, February 1st. The winter storm affected areas from the Davis Mountains northeast across the Upper Trans Pecos and the northwestern Permian Basin. The heaviest snow fell over the northwestern Permian Basin, where storm total snow accumulations piled up to seven inches. The storm caused dangerous driving conditions and contributed to several roll-over vehicle accidents.

The figure shows storm total snow accumulations resulting from the February 1, 2005
winter storm in west Texas.

On Sunday, January 30th, the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Midland/Odessa issued a Winter Storm Outlook mentioning the potential for a significant winter storm on Tuesday. A Winter Storm Watch was posted for Tuesday early on Monday, January 31st, and was upgraded to a Winter Storm Warning by late that afternoon.

Light rain and drizzle transitioned to snow over the mountains of west Texas late Monday evening. Wintry precipitation then spread from west to east across the area through the pre-dawn hours Tuesday. By mid morning, a narrow band of heavy snow developed over the Upper Trans Pecos region of west Texas and stretched northeast across the northwestern Permian Basin. Snow quickly accumulated to significant depths beneath this heavy snow band as it persisted over Andrews, Dawson, Gaines, and northwestern Borden Counties through midday. Relatively warm ground temperatures helped to limit snow accumulations over much of the area, however, six to seven inch accumulations were common across the northwestern portions of the Texas Permian Basin.

Radar image from the Midland, Texas, 88D Doppler radar showing the enhanced band of
heavy snowfall over the northwestern Permian Basin at 10:17 AM CST.