Blizzard — Moore, Texas

2024-01-08 to 2024-01-09 · Moore, Texas

Event narrative

Whiteout conditions occurred across Moore County. Stranded motorists were stuck with snow up to floorboards of the vehicles. Emergency personnel were unable to

rescue the stranded motorists due to the whiteout conditions. Multiple wind gusts in excess of 58 mph were measured in the county from 1258CST to 2035CST. The peak gust of 73 mph was measured by a mesonet near Dumas around 1449CST. In addition, sustained winds between 40 and 50 mph were measured from 1258CST to 2039CST.Snowfall amounts were not overly high in the county, with the highest totals in the northwest part of the county, ranging around one to three inches.

Wider weather episode

A strong low pressure system brought severe winds and snow to the combined Panhandles. With sustained winds reaching 35 to 45 mph with gusts up to 74 mph combined with snow, much of the area saw blizzard to near blizzard conditions. The Oklahoma and Texas Departments of Transportation were forced to shutdown roadways as motorists got stranded in the snow with near zero visibility and no way for emergency personnel to reach them. Roads west and north of Amarillo, TX were impacted for much of the afternoon through evening hours of the 8th. Amarillo east and southeastward, while experiencing the same strong winds, only experienced shorter durations of low visibility and less impact from the snow compared to the northwestern Panhandles.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1155313. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.