1-28-10 NOW:TX

The "big storm" is finally here and starting to make its way into the TX panhandle. Two mesoscale discussions have been issued for the area:

http://w1.spc.woc.noaa.gov/products/md/md0069.html
http://w1.spc.woc.noaa.gov/products/md/md0070.html

Amarillo issued AFD from 30 minutes ago:

THE WELL ADVERTISED MAJOR WINTER STORM IS BEGINNING TO AFFECT THE
FCST AREA AND SURROUNDING STATES ON SCHEDULE THIS MORNING. A LARGE SHIELD OF PRECIPITATION IS ADVANCING NWD INTO THE FCST AREA...WITH SNOW BEGINNING AT DHT AND MIXED PRECIP IN SRN TX PNHDL...INCLUDING AMA...IN THE FORM OF FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET. WX WILL CONTINUE TO RAPIDLY DETERIORATE ACROSS THE AREA FROM S TO N THIS MORNING...WITH A FULL BLOWN DANGEROUS WINTER STORM EXPECTED LATER THIS MORNING THRU TONIGHT. WINTER STORM WARNING WILL REMAIN INTACT FOR ALL OF THE FCST AREA THRU 12Z FRIDAY.

6am CST, heavy sleet reported in Amarillo area with some accumulation. Further south, thunderstorms are impacting the Midland/Odessa area.

6:50am CST - wind gust of 87 kts reported in Plainview, TX. MCV well defined in Midland area. New day 1 outlook now shows 5% tor risk in sw/central TX.