Winter Weather — Motley, Texas

2025-01-09 to 2025-01-10 · Motley, Texas

Wider weather episode

January began with arctic air settling into much of the country which included the South Plains of West Texas and the extreme southern Texas Panhandle. A storm system moved through the southern Rockies and Four Corners bringing wintry precipitation to the area. Moisture was limited as the winter storm first approached the region, but it gradually tapped a supply from the Gulf, causing precipitation to expand in coverage and intensity early in the morning of the ninth. The leading edge of the precipitation started as freezing rain and sleet over much of the central and southern South Plains into the Rolling Plains. However, the wintry mix quickly turned over to snow in most locations as the temperatures aloft cooled. A band of moderate to heavy snow setup and persisted from the northwestern South Plains into the central Texas Panhandle. Heavy snow, sometimes at rates at or greater than one inch per hour, quickly piled up during the morning and afternoon hours of the ninth, with lighter snow persisting well into the evening. Snowfall eventually shifted east of the region early in the morning of the tenth.

Snowfall reports from NWS cooperative weather observers are listed below:

8.0 inches at Dimmitt (Castro County),

7.0 inches at Friona (Parmer County),

5.0 inches at Vigo Park (Swisher County),

4.0 inches at Muleshoe (Bailey County),

4.0 inches at Silverton (Briscoe County),

3.5 inches at Memphis (Hall County),

3.3 inches at Tulia (Swisher County),

3.0 inches at Olton (Lamb County),

2.5 inches at Roaring Springs (Motley County),

2.0 inches at Childress (Childress County),

1.2 inches at Paducah (Cottle County), and

1.1 inches at Plainview (Hale County).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1224948. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.