A potent upper level low pressure system embedded in northwest flow moved into the region and brought a combination of cold air and strong lift to West Central Texas. These features resulted in the development of powdery snow that yielded heavy snow accumulations mainly between the interstate 10 and the interstate 20 corridors.
Every event with a place to put it; 16 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS SJT wrote it up.
A potent upper level low pressure system embedded in northwest flow moved into the region and brought a combination of cold air and strong lift to West Central Texas. These features resulted in the development of powdery snow that yielded heavy snow accumulations mainly between the interstate 10 and the interstate 20 corridors.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS San Angelo, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 22, 11:50 PM CST, 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 1150 PM CST MON FEB 22 2010 .DISCUSSION... SEE AVIATION SECTION. && .AVIATION... WITH THE APPROACH AND ARRIVAL OF THE UPPER TROUGH FROM THE WEST...AVIATION WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL DETERIORATE ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS OVERNIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING. WINTER PRECIPITATION WILL OVERSPREAD WEST CENTRAL TEXAS AFTER MIDNIGHT. THE PRECIPITATION WILL BE SNOW ACROSS THE BIG COUNTRY. FARTHER TO THE SOUTH...A MIX OF RAIN...SLEET AND SNOW WILL AFFECT THE KSJT AND KBBD TAF SITES SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT WITH A TRANSITION TO ALL SNOW BY 09Z-12Z TUESDAY. ALONG THE INTERSTATE 10 CORRIDOR... LIGHT RAIN IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP IN THE HOURS AFTER MIDNIGHT AT KJCT AND KSOA...WITH THE PRECIPITATION TRANSITIONING TO ALL SNOW BETWEEN 11Z AND 13Z TUESDAY. WITH THE INCREASING PRECIPITATION AND A TRANSITION TO SNOW...CONDITIONS WILL DETERIORATE INTO THE IFR AND LIFR CATEGORIES AREAWIDE...FOR LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. IFR AND LIFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OVER A LARGE AREA TUESDAY MORNING. THE SNOW WILL TAPER OFF FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST ON TUESDAY AFTERNOON. A DECREASE IN CLOUD COVERAGE WITH CONSIDERABLY IMPROVING AVIATION CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED BY TUESDAY EVENING. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 1130 PM CST MON FEB 22 2010/ UPDATE... JUST SENT A QUICK ZONE UPDATE TO REMOVE EVENING WORDING. RADAR TRENDS AND THE LATEST RUC DATA INDICATE FORECAST IS ON TRACK. 23/HUBER PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 600 PM CST MON FEB 22 2010/ DISCUSSION... SEE AVIATION SECTION. AVIATION... WITH THE APPROACH AND ARRIVAL OF THE UPPER TROUGH FROM THE WEST...AVIATION WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL DETERIORATE ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS LATE TONIGHT AND TUESDAY. THE LOW CLOUDS HAVE ERODED NORTHWARD TOWARD INTERSTATE 20 EARLY THIS EVENING. AT KABI THE LOW CLOUDS MAY DISSIPATE BETWEEN 00Z AND 04Z. MID-LEVEL CLOUDS WITH THE APPROACHING SYSTEM WILL OVERSPREAD WEST CENTRAL TEXAS THROUGH LATE EVENING AND EARLY TONIGHT. LIGHT SNOW OR A MIX OF SNOW AND RAIN IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE BIG COUNTRY AFTER 10 PM...WITH THE PRECIPITATION BECOMING ALL SNOW BY MIDNIGHT. FARTHER TO THE SOUTH...LIGHT RAIN IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AT THE KSJT AND KBBD TAF SITES BY OR SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT WITH A TRANSITION TO ALL SNOW BY 10Z-12Z TUESDAY. ALONG THE INTERSTATE 10 CORRIDOR...LIGHT RAIN IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AFTER MIDNIGHT AT KJCT AND KSOA...WITH THE PRECIPITATION TRANSITIONING TO ALL SNOW BETWEEN 11Z AND 14Z TUESDAY. WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF MIXED PRECIPITATION FOLLOWED BY A TRANSITION TO SNOW...CONDITIONS WILL DETERIORATE INTO THE IFR AND LIFR CATEGORIES LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. IFR AND LIFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED AREAWIDE DURING TUESDAY MORNING. THE SNOW WILL TAPER OFF FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST DURING TUESDAY AFTERNOON...BUT CLOUD CEILINGS ARE EXPECTED TO MOSTLY REMAIN BELOW 1 KFT. 19 PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 329 PM CST MON FEB 22 2010/ SHORT TERM... THE TUESDAY WINTER WEATHER EVENT WILL CONTINUE TO DOMINATE THE ATTENTION IN THE SHORT TERM. THE LATEST ITERATIONS OF THE NAM/GFS/ECMWF CONTINUE TO INDICATE A PRETTY DECENT SNOWFALL EVENT ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TX TONIGHT INTO TUESDAY. I WILL NOT REITERATE THE FORCING MECHANISMS INVOLVED...FOR MORE REFERENCE YOU CAN SEE MY PREVIOUS DISCUSSIONS. THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY BANDED SNOWFALL REMAINS WITH CONFIDENCE INCREASING THAT THERE WILL BE SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS OVER A PORTION OF WEST CENTRAL TX. PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN LATE TONIGHT OVER THE WESTERN BIG COUNTRY...CONCHO VALLEY...AND CROCKETT COUNTY AS THE UPPER WAVE APPROACHES...WITH A RAIN OR RAIN-SNOW MIX INITIALLY. PRECIP WILL THEN QUICKLY CHANGE OVER TO SNOW ON TUESDAY MORNING AS COLD ADVECTION OCCURS CONCURRENTLY WITH THE PRECIP. THE BEST FORCING IS THEN EXPECTED TO SHIFT SOUTHEAST FROM THE PERMIAN BASIN TOWARD WEST CENTRAL INTO CENTRAL TX DURING THE DAY ON TUESDAY WHERE ALL OF THE MODELS SUGGEST BANDS OF HEAVIER SNOW WILL DEVELOP. BASED ON THE LATEST GUIDANCE...I WILL NOT MAKE A CHANGE TO THE GOING ORIENTATION OF THE ADVISORY AND WARNING AND HAVE JUST TWEAKED THE AMOUNTS. BASICALLY...ACROSS THE WARNED AREA AN AVERAGE OF 4 INCHES IS EXPECTED...POSSIBLY AS HIGH AT 5 OR 6 INCHES OVER CROCKETT COUNTY AND THE HEARTLAND. THE BIG COUNTRY WILL REMAIN IN AN ADVISORY WHERE 1 TO 3 INCHES ARE EXPECTED. SOME PORTIONS OF THE EXTREME SOUTHERN BIG COUNTRY MAY SEE AMOUNTS CLOSE TO 4 INCHES...HOWEVER CONFIDENCE IS NOT HIGH ENOUGH AT THIS POINT TO UPGRADE TO A WARNING. THE SNOW WILL TAPER OFF FAIRLY QUICKLY AFTER 3 PM OR SO OVER MOST AREAS AND BY 6 PM IN THE SOUTHEAST. LACY LONG TERM... POST FRONTAL MORNING LOWS ON WEDNESDAY WILL GENERALLY BE IN THE MID 20S OVER THE FORECAST AREA...WARMING INTO THE MID TO UPPER 40S BY AFTERNOON UNDER SUNNY SKIES. NEXT UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM FORMS OVER THE SOUTHERN PLAINS ON THURSDAY AND WILL SLIDE SOUTHEAST DOWN THE EASTERN FLANK OF A BROAD UPPER RIDGE OVER THE WESTERN STATES INTO FRIDAY. AS THIS SYSTEM SLIDES SOUTHEAST...IT WILL PUSH A WEAK COLD FRONT THROUGH THE AREA OVERNIGHT THURSDAY. THIS MODEL RUN KEEPS THE BEST MOISTURE AND DYNAMICS EAST OF THE AREA... HOWEVER... WILL LEAVE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS ASSOCIATED WITH THE FRONTAL PASSAGE PRIMARILY OVER OUR EASTERN COUNTIES DURING THE DAY ON FRIDAY. ANTICIPATE A GOOD PRE-FRONTAL WARM-UP INTO THE 60S ON THURSDAY UNDER BRISK SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WINDS. AFTERNOON HIGHS WILL REMAIN MOSTLY IN THE 50S INTO SUNDAY WITH MORNING LOWS IN THE MID TO UPPER 30S. NEXT IN THE SERIES OF UPPER DISTURBANCES WILL MOVE INTO THE NORTHWESTERN STATES LATE FRIDAY...FORMING A CLOSED LOW OVER THE FOUR CORNERS AREA BY LATE SATURDAY. THIS SYSTEM WILL BE SEPARATED FROM BEST 850MB COOLING WHICH WILL BE LODGED OVER THE NORTHEASTERN STATES. THE UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM WILL OPEN AS IT MOVES SOUTHEAST TOWARD CENTRAL TEXAS. AS THIS SYSTEM WEAKENS OVER OUR AREA...A COMPANION CLOSED LOW WILL DEVELOP OVER THE MID MISSISSIPPI VALLEY WHERE THE BEST MID LEVEL COOLING WILL RESIDE. THUS...NOT LOOKING FOR MUCH COLD AIR INTRUSION INTO OUR AREA ON SUNDAY WITH THE FORECAST AREA PROBABLY REMAINING ABOVE FREEZING FOR MORNING LOWS. WILL CONTINUE A CHANCE OF RAIN SHOWERS SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT AS ANOTHER WEAK COLD FRONT PUSHES THROUGH THE AREA. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... ABILENE 32 37 26 43 28 / 60 80 0 0 10 SAN ANGELO 34 34 26 44 29 / 70 80 10 0 10 JUNCTION 36 36 25 46 28 / 50 80 10 0 10 && .SJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM CST TUESDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: CALLAHAN...FISHER...HASKELL...JONES...NOLAN... SHACKELFORD...TAYLOR...THROCKMORTON. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 6 PM CST TUESDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: BROWN...COKE...COLEMAN...CONCHO...CROCKETT...IRION... KIMBLE...MASON...MCCULLOCH...MENARD...RUNNELS...SAN SABA... SCHLEICHER...STERLING...SUTTON...TOM GREEN. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 309 PM CST MON FEB 22 2010 TXZ049-054-098-099-113-114-127-128-232115- FISHER-NOLAN-HASKELL-THROCKMORTON-JONES-SHACKELFORD-TAYLOR- CALLAHAN- 309 PM CST MON FEB 22 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TILL 6 PM TUESDAY. SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES ARE EXPECTED...WITH LOCALLY HEAVIER AMOUNTS IN THE SOUTH AND WEST. IMPACTS TO TRAVEL ARE EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY THE PROBABILITY OF WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER REPORTS OF SNOWFALL LATE TONIGHT AND TUESDAY ARE ENCOURAGED AND APPRECIATED. TXZ064>066-071>073-076>078-139-140-154-155-168>170-232115- STERLING-COKE-RUNNELS-IRION-TOM GREEN-CONCHO-CROCKETT-SCHLEICHER- SUTTON-COLEMAN-BROWN-MCCULLOCH-SAN SABA-MENARD-KIMBLE-MASON- 309 PM CST MON FEB 22 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A WINTER STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TILL 6 PM TUESDAY. SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 2 TO 6 INCHES ARE EXPECTED...WHICH COULD IMPACT TRAVEL CONSIDERABLY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY THE PROBABILITY OF WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER REPORTS OF SNOWFALL LATE TONIGHT AND TUESDAY ARE ENCOURAGED AND APPRECIATED. LACY
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
16 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
There was 4 inches of snow reported four miles southwest of Abilene and 4.5 inches of snow reported by the broadcast media one mile northwest of Abilene.
There was 6 inches of snow reported in Sweetwater.
There was 4.5 inches of snow reported 1 mile northwest of Abilene.
There was 6 inches of snow reported 11 miles west of Buffalo Gap.
Four inches of snow was reported in Coleman.
There was 4.5 inches of snow reported in Early.
There was 4 inches of snow reported in Sterling City.
There was 5 inches of snow reported in Robert Lee.
There was 4 inches of snow reported in Ballinger.
Five inches of snow was reported in Eden.
Four inches of snow was officially measured at the National Weather Service Office in San Angelo.
Four inches of snow was reported in Abilene by a National Weather Service observer.
Four inches of snow was reported in Lohn.
Four inches of snow was reported in Elm Grove.
Five inches of snow was reported in Bangs.
Five inches of snow was reported in Baird.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, February 2010
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 217682, 217684, 217685, 217687, 217801, 217686, 217688, 217689, 217691, 217795, 217811, 217817, 217804, 217818, 217819, 217820.