
The wind and dust on Tuesday, April 4th, felt like deja vu from just four days earlier. The "hot spots," or black areas, are locations where wildfires are ongoing. Infrared satellite loop valid from 3:39 pm to 3:48 pm on Friday (31 March 2023). One large wildfire developed and spread through parts of eastern Bailey County, while thick blowing dust contributed to several crashes on Highway 84 northwest of Muleshoe. The dry, windy and dusty conditions had the greatest impacts across the southwest Texas Panhandle and northwest South Plains, as displayed in the above graphic. The shaded blue area depicts where thick blowing dust occurred Tuesday afternoon. Also shown is the approximate location of a large wildfire that consumed portions of east-central Bailey County. Peak wind gusts measured on Tuesday (4 April 2023). The winds decreased after sunset, but remained solidly breezy into the next morning. Several of the peak severe gusts (58+ mph) occurred around midday, with another round favoring the late afternoon and early evening when high clouds gradually cleared and allowed for deeper mixing. Wind gusts of 45 to 60 mph were common over much of the Caprock from late morning through early evening. The data are courtesy of the West Texas Mesonet (WTM).Ībove is a snapshot of the wind gusts at 1:30 pm on Tuesday. Smoke from a large wildfire near Amarillo is also clearly seen rising through the white sand plume over the central Texas Panhandle.Ĭurrent wind gusts measured at 1:30 pm on Tuesday (4 April). The above satellite imagery clearly shows a plume of white sand emanating from White Sands National Park, with additional more "classic" brown and red dust sourced from northern Mexico, Far West Texas, southeast New Mexico and the western South Plains. White sand is clearly seen being carried northeastward from White Sands National Park in south-central New Mexico. "RGB-True Color" satellite animation valid from 5:06 pm to 5:56 pm on Tuesday (4 April 2023). Many locations experienced the visibility falling to 1 to 2 miles as a result of the thick blowing dust, with localized visibility near zero reported. The dry air, coupled with southwesterly winds gusting as high as 50 to 70 mph, lofted plenty of dust and supported the development and spread of several wildfires. While rich Gulf of Mexico moisture did get as close as western North Texas, eastern New Mexico into the Texas Panhandle and South Plains experienced the driest air of the spring to this point, with the relative humidity falling into the lower single digits (2-3%). The plume emanating from east-central Bailey is smoke/ash/embers being lofted from a wildfire. Lubbock WSR-88D radar animation valid from 11:15 am to 2:31 pm Tuesday (4 March).

Farther south and east, another round of severe thunderstorms, including tornadic thunderstorms, hit portions of the Midwest into the central Mississippi River Valley. Where moisture was present, blizzard conditions developed over much of the Dakotas and northwestern Minnesota, on the north side of the system. One particularly strong system emerged from the central Rockies on Tuesday, April 4th.

Water vapor satellite loop valid from 11:51 am to 12:46 pm on Tuesday (4 April 2023). This meant that any system that moved through, including the intense ones, left the South Plains region on the dry and windy south side. It will cool to 40 degrees overnight.Prolonged dry, rounds of wind, dust and fire weatherĭusty Lubbock skyline Tuesday evening (4 April 2023) shortly before sunset.ĭuring much of March and early April 2023, the jet stream carrying the storm systems across the United States decided to remain parked to the north of West Texas. Wind could gust near 15 mph with more afternoon thunderstorms. Wednesday will be mostly sunny with a high of 64 degrees. Thunderstorms will move into the region after lunchtime and calm by midnight with a low of 40 degrees. The sun will pop back out Tuesday as the high just breaks 60 degrees. The traveler in the center of this screen slid off on the right shoulder and is facing the wrong way just east of EJMT. Take your time and slow down across the mountain highways this morning. From sunrise to sundown, Denver could get another inch of rain. Winds could gust up to 20 mph at times throughout the day and evening.

Rain will start to slow in the afternoon when the high reaches 45 degrees under clear skies overnight with a low of 36. Another eight inches of snow could fall in some areas. Overnight snow fell as low as Castle Rock and along the Palmer Divide. Areas above 6500 feet will see snow with snowfall rates around 1/2" with the heavier snow showers. Widespread precipitation will continue to fall across the mountains, foothills, adjacent plains & Palmer Divide through noon.

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