Chance of snow forecast Sunday and Monday
Well, I guess it's technically still winter...
According to a forecast issued by the National Weather Service, Big Spring has a chance of snow Sunday and Monday.
Sunday is March 20, the first day of spring.
Oh, there's not going to be enough snow to drift, or for sledding or snowmen, says Samantha Zuber, a meteorologist with the Midland branch of the National Weather Service.
“We have gotten snow in April before, but it's pretty late for us to be getting something like this,” she said. “We are expecting a really cold front to move through later (Thursday) evening, and then into Friday morning, and that's going to shape up the temperatures for this entire event. That colder air is going to linger for quite some time. We're expecting to fall below freezing overnight
Snow adorns a prickly pear cactus in Big Spring a few years ago. Snow forecast this weekend won't blanket the area this thoroughly, but local residents may notice a few flakes Sunday or Monday. Saturday morning, Sunday morning and Monday morning for most of the area, matching that with afternoon temperatures in the 40s across the south and 50s further north, we should just see a prolonged event of some pretty cold air in the region.”
Despite a chance of some snow, most of the precipitation should be rain, Zuber said.
“Really, we're looking at rain showers for the most part, I would say, for the Permian Basin,” she said.. “The snow we're expecting to be predominantly down in the Davis Mountains, Marfa Plateau, Glass Mountins, that kind of region. That's where the greater moisture is going to be as well, so they have a lot better chance of seeing some accumulating snowfall down there, maybe a couple of inches in the higher terrain.”
Zuber said Monday is the best chance the Permian Basin has of
seeing some snowflakes, noting that it depends on whether precipitation matches up with the colder end of the temperatures we're expecting.
“It's definitely possible to get some periods of rain and snow mixing, especially Monday morning, or Sunday night into Monday morning. But precipitation chances are just a lot lower up here than they are further south. In terms of accumulation, we're really not expecting much right now for the Permian Basin. Maybe like a dusting on the ground...a trace. That sort of thing.”
Beyond Monday, Zuber said the cold temperatures will melt away very quickly.
“We basically are going to be getting some warm southerly winds, and that's going to warm us up to the 70s by Tuesday, and then the upper 70s to low 80s by Wednesday,” she said. “Very quickly. Anything that's on the ground Monday is going to be gone.”
Enjoy your springtime, Big Spring!