-- 2023 Wheat Crop Takes Another Hit -- This is where hard red winter wheat is grown  in the USA. The extreme cold likely damaged this year's crop. Mid-Afternoon Weather Satellite Image Amarillo, TX reached -1°F this morning, Dalhart was zero; Boise City (OK) reached -4°F. All of these locations had no snow cover as shown on the above weather satellite image from this afternoon. It will be extremely cold tonight as the forecast map (below) which depicts 4am temperatures, indicates. I am seriously concerned about damage to the 2023 winter wheat crop crop in the southern High Plains. The wheat is planted in September and early October and is harvested the following late May to July. Usually, wheat can survive extreme low temperatures if  it is covered by snow. This was not the case today nor will it be the case tonight. Combine it with the drought (below) and I believe yields will take a huge hit.  Palmer Drought Index The browns and red = drought. The blues = wet condition...

Temperatures as of 3pm CST Forecast Temperatures as of 9pm CST Forecast Temperatures as of 8am CST Friday  Forecast Temperatures as of 5pm CST Friday Average Airport Delays and Closures as of 3:50pm CST NYC -LaGuardia: 1 hour, 22 minutes NYC - JFK:  2 hours, 10 minutes Reagan - Washington:  33 minutes  Chicago - O'Hare:  2 hours, 20 minutes  Philadelphia:  18 minutes  Toronto:  36 minutes  Sioux Falls - Airport closed due to blizzard. The FAA is monitoring Memphis, DFW and Louisville for possible delay program implementation.  Go online and check with your airline before going to the airport.  Radar as of 3:44pm CST.  Forecast Radar as of 9pm CST Darker blues mean heavier falling snow. Winds will be increasing in the Northeast which means blizzard conditions. The pinks and oranges are icy conditions.  Forecast Radar as of 8am CST Friday Forecast Radar as of 5pm CST Friday With the exception of eastern New England, the...

These two photos represent what meteorologists call a "ground blizzard."  It is not  snowing at my home. In fact, we had a few moments a sun a little while ago. However, the high winds (gusting to 47 mph) are lifting up the snow. If you were inside one of these thicker areas of snow, the visibility would be greatly reduced, so you would need to slow down to be save.  Video of ground blizzard conditions below. Note: I'm taking a break the rest of the afternoon. Scroll down one post for my latest forecasts. 

Let's begin with temperatures. 10am Temperatures  3pm Forecasted Temperatures 9pm Forecasted Temperatures 3am Friday Forecast Temperatures I included this because it is when single digit temperatures reach the Rio Grande River. Forecast wind chills are immediately below. By this time, wind chills will have dropped to zero or below along the Rio Grande and will continue to fall the rest of the morning. This will create a humanitarian crisis due to the huge number of people outdoors and exposed to the extreme cold. Precipitation  Here is the current radar as of 11:32am CST. The NWS is predicting snow squalls with blizzard conditions between now and 4pm in the outlined area. Forecast Radar for 4pm CST. The darker the blue, the heavier the snow. Chicago's O'Hare and Midway Airports will be seeing major cancellations in addition to the major delays now occurring. Some areas in the Midwest will be experiencing blizzard conditions.  The snow in Pennsylvania will move into Ups...

Position of the cold air at 8am.  Forecast position of the cold air as of 5pm CST. Forecast position of the cold air as of 8am CST Friday. National Weather Service advisories and warnings as of 8:30am Color codes: Orange = blizzard warning Pink = winter storm warning  Dark green = winter storm watch Purple = winter weather advisory (a lesser condition than a warning) Gold/Brown = high wind forecast Maroon = high wildfire risk Gray = dense fog advisory Radar at 8:52am.

At my house in far northeast Wichita, here are the weather conditions as of 8am. The above video was taken minutes before the visibility dropped.  Temperature:   -5°F Wind chill:   -33°F Wind gusts: 49 mph Snowing, visibility:   1/10th of a mile It is far too dangerous to be outdoors right now! In Kansas, there are about 25,000 people without power in the extreme cold. If you are now in the cold air, turn on a light flow of water from a faucet to keep your pipes from freezing and bursting. 

The forecast continues on track. If anything, the cold air is still a bit ahead of schedule.  That makes it critical  for electric car owners to realize their greatly decreased range on a full charge. The chart below is from Canada and it compares the range at 70°F versus 32°F. Of course, in many areas, temperatures will be far below freezing, so that means range will be decreased further.  Be conservative! Do not get caught in this extreme cold.