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NWS Amarillo Website http://www.weather.gov/ama NWSAmarillo @NWSAmarillo Industrial-Enhanced Snowfall Borger and Amarillo, Texas National Weather Service Amarillo 2/10/2014

Industrial-Enhanced Snowfall

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Page 1: Industrial-Enhanced Snowfall

NWS Amarillo Website http://www.weather.gov/ama NWSAmarillo @NWSAmarillo

Industrial-Enhanced Snowfall Borger and Amarillo, Texas

National Weather Service Amarillo

2/10/2014

Page 2: Industrial-Enhanced Snowfall

NWS Amarillo Website http://www.weather.gov/ama NWSAmarillo @NWSAmarillo

Event Summary

• A cold and saturated air mass was already in place, with freezing fog and light flurries.

• Steam from several industrial power plants enhanced snowfall potential in narrow bands near Borger and Amarillo, Texas.

• Contributing atmospheric features –

– A cold and saturated low-level layer was in place. – The industrial plants introduced steam/heat and condensation

nuclei in the -10° to -15° C dendritic snow growth layer. – This enhanced snowfall potential in narrow corridors, resulting in

localized accumulating snow. – This process was very similar to lake effect snows in the Midwest.

What happened?

Page 3: Industrial-Enhanced Snowfall

NWS Amarillo Website http://www.weather.gov/ama

Industrial Plant

2. Clouds and Snow Crystals

Form

3. Winds Blow Clouds and Snow Downwind

1. Heat and Steam (Moisture) Added to

a Cold, Saturated Atmosphere

How Did This Happen?

Page 4: Industrial-Enhanced Snowfall

NWS Amarillo Website http://www.weather.gov/ama

-2.5 to +14 dBZ +0.42 to 3.67 dB

0.84 to 0.99 -0.05 to +0.05

Z

CC KDP

ZDR DRY SNOW

Industrial Plant

Snow Plume

NWS Amarillo’s Doppler Radar indicated dry snow falling downwind of a Borger-area power plant around 8:30 PM Sunday

Page 5: Industrial-Enhanced Snowfall

NWS Amarillo Website http://www.weather.gov/ama

Bunavista

Most Affected

Areas

Page 6: Industrial-Enhanced Snowfall

NWS Amarillo Website http://www.weather.gov/ama Brandon Whittington

Brandon Whittington Hutchinson County LEPC

Hutchinson County LEPC

Page 7: Industrial-Enhanced Snowfall

NWS Amarillo Website http://www.weather.gov/ama NWSAmarillo @NWSAmarillo

Visible Satellite

Feb 10, 2014 11:30 am CST

Industrial-Induced Snow Band

Visible satellite image shows the enhanced clouds downwind of an industrial plant northeast of Amarillo and streaming southward. One to two inch accumulations were common under the plume as indicated by the TXDOT traffic webcam insets.

Amarillo

Page 8: Industrial-Enhanced Snowfall

NWS Amarillo Website http://www.weather.gov/ama NWSAmarillo @NWSAmarillo 2/10/2014

5:16 PM

Pictures from Amarillo

Page 9: Industrial-Enhanced Snowfall

NWS Amarillo Website http://www.weather.gov/ama NWSAmarillo @NWSAmarillo 2/10/2014

5:09 PM

February 9-10, 2014 Snow Accumulations

1-2 inches

1-2 inches 3-5 inches