NEWS
Thunder sleet brings new aspect to winter storms
Residents of the southern Plains witnessed a rare wintry phenomenon Wednesday morning known as “thunder sleet,” spawned by the cross-country storm rumbling through the region. Like thundersnow, thunder sleet occurs when thunder or lightning is observed while wintry precipitation is falling — in this case, with sleet, also known as ice pellets.
Thundersnow itself is rare in the sense that it does not occur with every snowstorm, AccuWeather Meteorologist Courtney Travis explained. The same can be said about thunder sleet and thunder with freezing rain with the phenomenon not occurring every time that the wintry precipitation falls.
“Whether they result in thundersnow, thunder sleet or thunder with freezing rain, winter storms that spawn the rare events all have some similar components,” Travis said. “The bottom portion of the storm is winterlike, while the middle and upper portions of the storm are more convective, which is more typical of a spring or summer storm. In these situations, there is also an increased risk of heavier freezing rain or sleet accumulations.”
Lightning strikes are shown along with snow (blue) and mixed sleet and snow (purple) on the AccuWeather radar at 9 a.m. CT on Feb. 23, 2022.
That proved true on Wednesday with areas in northern Texas, southeastern Oklahoma and northwestern Arkansas recording 1.5 to 2 inches of sleet through 1 p.m. CST, including Paris, Arkansas; McAlester, Oklahoma; and Quanah, Texas.
In Wichita Falls, Texas, flashes of lightning illuminated the sky Wednesday morning. The airport began reporting thunder sleet and thunder with freezing rain around 4:30 a.m. CST, with the reports still coming in by the afternoon hours.
Reports of thunder sleet, thunder with freezing rain and thundersnow continued throughout the morning across Texas and Oklahoma. Portions of each state were under a winter storm warning.
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While the combination of sleet or freezing rain with lightning and thunder is rare, Wednesday morning’s outbreak of thunder with sleet, freezing rain and snow was unusually widespread with more than 1,500 strikes connecting with the ground through 2 p.m. CST, AccuWeather Senior Weather Editor Jesse Ferrell said, citing data from Vaisala, a lightning research firm based in Finland.
“Temperature readings were also unusually low to be recorded with lightning,” Ferrell said. “Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma, reported heavy thundersnow and sleet with winds gusting to 33 mph at 7:11 a.m. CST, while it was 14 degrees Fahrenheit with an AccuWeather RealFeel® of 16 below zero. That’s a miserable morning!”
This week’s storm arrived on the heels of a dramatic warmup across the region, with many places such as the Dallas area reporting temperatures as high as 85 F on Monday. On Tuesday, temperatures across the state ranged from 25 degrees in Perryton, Texas, to 100 at Zapata.
Dallas still had temperatures in the 70s on Tuesday morning, but those readings quickly dropped into the 30s before noon Tuesday, according to Travis. Temperatures were near 30 degrees on Wednesday morning when thunder sleet and thunder with freezing rain were reported.
By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
With just 10 days left until the May 4 school bond election, Bowie Independent School District officials made a final push this week to get information out to the public.
The district conducted two town hall meetings at different times on April 24 and took part in a virtual town hall the day before. There were almost 40 people attending, which is more than all the town hall meetings conducted during the October vote. Another 12-15 attended a noontime meeting.
Superintendent Blake Enlow went through a powerpoint outlining the bond proposal and then took questions. The same bond plan failed last November 1,079 to 855.
The plan includes the following projects: A new intermediate school for grades three to five, built at the corner of Rock and Tarrant. The existing junior high is overcapacity and due to age is Texas Education Agency non-compliant.
The 100-plus year old building will be repurposed for offices and staff development. The existing BJH gyms will be maintained for community use. The new intermediate will handle 600 students and include a storm shelter, ballistic rated entrance glazing and keep student traffic away from the street.
The junior high students would move to the existing intermediate after renovations. There will be a dedicated sixth grade wing, a renovated ag science facility and a new weight room and fieldhouse. The old classrooms, gym and locker would be renovated. The school also would include storm shelter areas, ballistic glazing and keep students away from the street.
The existing elementary campus will receive a new bus lane and covered pick-up and drop-off areas, as well as new staff and visitor parking that allows for safe walking to the entry. The existing high school will have a new weight room which it does not have now, plus new restrooms at the baseball/softball fields with a handicap parking area.
Citizens asked questions about how the plan was developed and how the costs figures were calculated.
Read the full story and citizens questions in the weekend Bowie News.
Pictured above: Superintendent Blake Enlow talks to citizens at a bond election town hall meeting Thursday night.
By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
Bowie City Manager Bert Cunningham presented a lengthy monthly report to the city council Monday night updating the group on the various building projects and program grant applications.
The council has not met since March 11 due to a lack of action items, so there was a lot to catch up with.
City Manager report
Nelson Street project – Cunningham said the project is proceeding well. Downstream of the bridge the contractor is about to pour concrete into the creek to maintain the water flow. The main streets also are being cleared of debris so they will be ready for the pending concrete pour.
Right now the biggest obstacle is the unfinished drop box at the intersection of Mill and Nelson. In flux for the last couple of months, the engineer is requiring the contractor remove the drop box because the dirt under the structure was not compaction tested as required by the contract.
Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
The final two days of early voting for the May 4 school bond elections in Bowie and Forestburg will be April 29-30, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Bowie Senior Citizens Center.
Sample ballots are available on the county website at co.montague.tx.us, click on the elections tab. As of 2 p.m. Thursday the total was 741 for early voting for both districts’
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