Record cold and freezing drizzle (29-31 October 2019)

Record cold and light wintry weather
29-31 October 2019

Glazed over view from a webcam in Muleshoe at 5:55 am on 30 December 2019. The image is courtesy of KVIII.

Late October 2019 ended on a chilly note as several cold fronts moved through, allowing bitterly cold air to invade the region. After a warm Saturday (26 October), when temperatures soared into the 70s, the first cold front moved through, dropping temperatures about 20 degrees for the second half of the weekend. This was just the tip of the iceberg, as reinforcing shots of cold air kept the temperature trending downward through the remainder of the month.

48-hour West Texas Mesonet precipitation (inches) ending at 9:30 pm on 30 December 2019.

Additionally, as the colder air spread into the South Plains, shallow moisture was lifted and squeezed out in the form of drizzle and freezing drizzle. The drizzle peaked in coverage and intensity Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning. Although precipitation totals were light, from a trace to several hundredths of an inch, the moisture did create slick spots on area roadways where temperatures lingered below the freezing mark.

View from a TXDOT traffic camera near Spur 327 and Frankford Avenue in southwest Lubbock at 6:07 am on 30 October 2019. West Texas Mesonet temperatures around this same time can be VIEWED HERE.

In Lubbock, where temperatures hovered a couple of degrees below freezing much of Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, elevated surfaces like bridges and overpasses became icy and slick while surface roads remained mostly wet. Unfortunately, the slick conditions did contribute to several dozen accidents in Lubbock Wednesday. The drizzle and freezing drizzle diminish by around midday on Wednesday and skies gradually cleared late in day, but temperatures only rose into the lower to middle 30s at most locations.

West Texas Mesonet low temperatures Halloween morning (31 December 2019).

The coldest night of the fall season followed as temperatures dropped into the teens at most spots by Halloween morning. These bitterly cold readings (especially for this early in the season) set many daily and monthly records. Lubbock officially dipped to 16˚F, breaking the previous daily record (20˚F, set in 1991) and monthly record (18˚F, set on 30 October 1993). Childress also set a new daily and monthly record when it dropped to 19˚F (breaking the previous record of 21˚F, set in 1993).