Heavy Snow in Texas, April 5 to 6, 1996

A late season winter snowstorm dumped record snowfall over much of the Big Country and Concho Valley on the afternoon and evening of the 5th. The storm began early Friday morning (the 5th), but did not reach its peak until the middle of the afternoon, before finally tapering to an end after midnight Saturday morning. The 9.3 inches of snow in Abilene shattered the all-time 24 hour record snowfall for the city. The snowfall was even heavier to the west of Abilene in Nolan County, where Sweetwater picked up an incredible 18 inches of snow and Maryneal received 12 inches.The snowstorm came as a result of a nearly stationary upper-level system over southern New Mexico. Weak upper-level disturbances spreading out from this system were riding up and over the warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico which also rode over the top of the cold air. In this case, the weak disturbances collided with the cold air at the surface and the warm air above the surface to create widespread clouds and precipitation across central and west Texas.The heavy wet snow brought Easter holiday travel to a halt acrossparts of the Big Country when I-20 was closed in Nolan County.Warehouses collapsed under the weight of the snow. The combination of rain and melting snow left streets and underpasses covered with standing water. On the positive side, the snow and the rain that preceded it did help alleviate the very dry conditions across the area.