Severe Ice Storm Conditions Expected Across Northeast Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas Starting Thursday

DDN – As one storm departs the East Coast via the Mid-Atlantic, we begin to monitor “phase 2” in terms of a subsequent arctic blast of air. This will be accompanied by another major storm system, and with extra cold air locked in, we may experience deeper-diving snowfall and freezing rain.

For today, bitter cold air comes in behind our system, and it will travel all the way down to the Gulf Coast, Southeast, and Florida.

That will set the stage for a similar arrangement to what we’ve seen over the last several days. Our next system is expected to dive down through the Rockies via the Pacific Northwest, then emerge into the Lower Plains and connect with Gulf energy and moisture.

This time, our system is put up further south. This might lead to significant snowfall across Oklahoma and northeast Texas. The rain/snow line will form an in-between border of warm air, resulting in a narrow band of heavy sleet and freezing rain.

This could bring ice storm conditions in sections of extreme northeast Texas, upper Louisiana, and lower Arkansas starting Thursday afternoon.

Heavy snow is expected immediately north of that rain/snow line, and like with the previous system, the warm quadrant of our system may see some severe weather. As of today, if the system develops according to the GFS model, the severe thunderstorm danger is limited to the Gulf Coast region of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

Where that storm ends is where the EURO and GFS weather models diverge. The EURO shows a weakening storm moving from the East Coast to the Southeast/Mid-Atlantic with little more than a whimper.

However, the most recent GFS model run still predicts a probable Nor’Easter for regions of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New England.

If this scenario plays out, we could see a massive snowstorm with blizzard conditions across the Northeast and New England. We have a long way to go, but at the very least, the EURO and GFS weather models agree on the potential of ice and/or snow in regions of Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.