Winter Storm Quantum to Bring Icy Conditions to Texas, Deep South (FORECAST)

Linda Lam
Published: February 22,2015



 
Winter Storm Quantum will spread snow and ice from the Rockies to parts of the South Sunday through Monday evening. Quantum was named by the winter storm naming committee at The Weather Channel late Saturday.
An upper-level disturbance moved into the southern Plains on Sunday as an arctic high pressure slid southward through the Plains. The combination of the disturbance and very cold air has generated a widespread wintry mess, just in time for the new week.
(MORE: Expert Analysis | Winter Storm Central)
Sleet and freezing rain will develop from northern Texas through southern Oklahoma, southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana through Monday. Light icing is even possible as far east as northern Alabama and far north Georgia overnight into early Monday. Snow is likely north and west of the area of ice from the Rockies to the Texas Panhandle and into central and southern Oklahoma.
As you might expect, very hazardous travel conditions are likely across a wide area through Monday evening, including the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area.
(MORE: Ice Threat in Dallas-Ft. Worth | Quantum's Impacts)
Here's an overview of the timing and how much snow and ice to expect from Quantum.

Snow and Ice Timing

Overnight:

• Snow continues from the mountains of Southern California to southern Utah, Colorado, northern New Mexico through the Texas Panhandle.
• Sleet (ice pellets) and freezing rain develops from west-central and north Texas through Arkansas, northern Louisiana, southern Tennessee, northern Alabama and far north Georgia.
• Cities to Watch: Abilene | Dallas | Little Rock | Shreveport | Huntsville

Monday:

• More snow falls from the Four Corners region of Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado to parts of the Texas Panhandle and Oklahoma.
• Sleet and freezing rain will persist to the south in central and north-central, northeast Texas, southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana. Thunder could accompany the sleet on Monday morning in north Texas.
• Cities to Watch: San Angelo | Dallas | Amarillo | Shreveport

Monday Night:

• Lingering light freezing rain will slide into eastern Texas, northern and central Louisiana and parts of central Mississippi.
• Cities to Watch: Austin | Shreveport | Jackson

How Much Snow and Ice?

As shown on our snow and ice forecast map, accumulating snow is expected from the Rockies into parts of Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle. South of this area, ice accumulations are shown in purple from portions of central, north and east Texas to northern Mississippi and northern Alabama.
South:
- Snowfall amounts will generally be under 3 inches from Arkansas through southern Oklahoma and into far northern Texas. The area with the best chance of seeing up to 5 inches of snow will be in parts of the Texas Panhandle and in the Oklahoma Panhandle.
- A combination of sleet and freezing rain will likely make travel very hazardous from central Texas near San Angelo into northeastern Texas, northern Louisiana and southern Arkansas. Light icing is possible as far east as northern Alabama. Localized sleet accumulations of up to 2 inches are possible in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area.
- Freezing rain accumulations could cause some scattered power outages, however we do not expect widespread power outages or tree damage at this time.
West:
- More than a foot of snow has already fallen in the Colorado Rockies due to a combination of Winter Storms Pandora and Quantum. Parts of the Denver metro area have seen more than a half foot of snow.
- Additional snow will accumulate from the mountains of Southern California eastward to southern Utah, northern Arizona, northern New Mexico and Colorado.
Check back with us on weather.com and The Weather Channel for the latest on this next winter storm.
MORE: Winter Storm Pandora Photos