The latest water vapor satellite image (above) shows a middle and upper level low pressure center just off of the Northern coast of the Baja peninsula in Mexico. This system will slowly move out toward the East over the next 48-60 hours, spreading snow to the lowlands of southern Mexico and southwest Texas, and light rain across much of the main body of the Lone Star State.
The most noteworthy aspect of the precipitation that will take place Thursday into Friday will no doubt be the the snow that will take place across southcentral and southeastern New Mexico into southwest Texas, including the El Paso area.
The latest run of the high resolution NAM computer model is forecasting widespread 2-4 inch snowfall amounts in this region, with localized amounts in excess of 6 inches as shown in yellow and red:
A narrow ribbon of light snow accumulation is also forecast for Northwestern portions of the Hill Country, mainly to the West of I-35.
A Winter Storm Watch is currently in effect for late tonight through Friday morning across the region shown in blue on the image below:
Travel will become hazardous on Thursday along I-10 from about Ft. Stockton on West to El Paso, so please plan accordingly if you have to use that route.
On the "warm" side of the system, widespread light rain will spread toward the East across Texas from Thursday through Saturday. Unfortunately, much of the precipitation will be so light that it will be hard to measure. Outside of the areas that receive snowfall, the best chance of accumulating moisture will take place along the southern border areas, as well as perhaps a narrow band of 0.25 to 0.50 inch amounts in the western Hill Country through Saturday morning:
Widespread cloudiness and light precipitation will keep temperatures well below seasonal normals across the region through Saturday as well, with a "bullseye" of temperatures at 25-30 degrees below normal across southwest Texas centered on 12 Noon CST this Friday:
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