Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Amarillo, TX
Issued by NWS Amarillo, TX
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100 FXUS64 KAMA 030539 AFDAMA Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Amarillo TX 1139 PM CST Tue Dec 2 2025 ...New KEY MESSAGES, SHORT TERM, LONG TERM, AVIATION... .KEY MESSAGES... Issued at 1124 PM CST Tue Dec 2 2025 - An approaching system is expected to bring flurries to light snow showers to most of the Panhandles tonight into Thursday afternoon. - Potential is present for a localized band of heavier snowfall to occur across the Western Panhandles tonight that could lead to small area receiving an extra 1 to 2 inches. - Drier weather looks to return for the weekend with afternoon highs returning to the 50s as early as Saturday. && .SHORT TERM... (Tonight through Thursday night) Issued at 1124 PM CST Tue Dec 2 2025 Latest satellite tonight is continuing to see the positively tilted 500mb disturbance push its way southeast into Colorado with a leading cold front not expected to be in the Panhandles till the early hour of Wednesday. While the cold front will usher in much cooler air for the Panhandles tomorrow afternoon, the potential for precipitation will be delay till later that evening when models see the moisture push in with the disturbance. With the colder air mass arriving earlier for the Panhandles, most models are in agreement for snow to be the most likely precipitation type for the day. Meanwhile, latest CAM runs are continuing the trend of seeing much more widespread lift across the Panhandles, which in turn has spread snow chances much further east than in previous runs. Still our best chances will lie across the Western Panhandles where chances are expected to peak around 60% around midnight. Where the biggest question still lies, however, is on how much snow is possible. For most of the Panhandles, amounts have ranged to around 0.25 to 0.75 inches of snowfall by the time activity wraps up Thursday. On the other hand, recent CAMs runs continue to suggest the potential for localized maxima of snowfall somewhere across the Western Panhandles thanks impart to mesoscale features working in conjunction with the terrain. While pining down the exact location of these features has been extremely difficult, it does open up the potential for a narrow corridor of 1 to 2 inches of snowfall accumulation in the span of only a couple of hours. As mention prior, however, pining down the exact location of this band, or possibly even bands, has not been easy with present CAMS placing a 10 to 30% chance of seeing an inch or greater anywhere from Boise City, OK to just south of us in Plainview, TX. Regardless, snow showers do look to tapper off by Thursday afternoon a models see the system make a quick exit in favor or a weak upper-level ridge. && .LONG TERM... (Friday through next Tuesday) Issued at 1124 PM CST Tue Dec 2 2025 Model agreement looks to favor a more northwesterly upper-level flow for the Panhandles as we move into Friday and the weekend. This flow alongside weak ridging does look to but an end to the Panhandles chances of active weather, with most ensembles keeping precipitation chances less than 10% through the middle of next week. These drier conditions will also prompt a bit of a warm up for the Panhandles with afternoon highs this weekend quickly returning to the mid to upper 50s. Meanwhile, next week could see high temperatures back into the 60s should this dry trend continue. && .AVIATION... (06Z TAFS) Issued at 1124 PM CST Tue Dec 2 2025 As of late tonight, latest observations stations and satellite imagery were beginning to see the cold front push into the Panhandles. Presently latest CAMS only expected scatter to few cloud cover to follow with this initial push with all three terminals expected to stay VFR through the overnight. However, the full arrival of the system Wednesday evening is expected to be accompanied by the potential for light snowfall for the terminals. These chances alongside much lower cloud cover will likely see all terminals drop to MVFR to brief IFR conditions for the night time hours. Concerns are still present for a much heavier band of snow to set up somewhere across the Western Panhandles that would be capable of producing an extra 1 to 2 inch or snowfall rather quickly. However, confidence is too low that such a band will impact either KDHT or KAMA at this time to include into present package. && .AMA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...None. OK...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...11 LONG TERM....11 AVIATION...11