The National Weather Service (NWS) in Midland is forecasting the possibility for some winter weather across West Texas this weekend (December 26-27). That could of course affect travel plans in and out of the region of the holidays, so here's a rundown of what to expect.
The weather service says it's increasingly confident that a "major winter storm" will impact the region Saturday and Sunday.
A strong cold front is expected to head into West Texas and southeastern New Mexico sometime Saturday, dropping temperatures down rapidly as 20-30 mph northerly winds blow in.
Showers and thunderstorms could start developing first along the front in the eastern Permian Basin on Saturday. Rains across the region are expected to turn into snow Saturday night over much of the region.
It's looking like this will be a significant storm. The weather service says similar storms with this kind of set-up have produced heavy snow in the past, and forecast models are already saying heavy snow is likely Saturday night and Sunday.
It's not yet clear how much snow will fall, but the storm could produce "near blizzard conditions" in some areas. The heaviest snow is expected to fall north of I-10.
You can view current road conditions across Texas with TxDOT's DriveTexas website. We also encourage you to share pictures of winter weather on our Facebook page or by tweeting at us - we'll do our best to share those observations and help get West Texans informed about travel conditions through the weekend.
