Williamson #Travis #Hays #Caldwell #SCTX_Aware Elevated Wildfire Concern for 1200 pm - 6:00 pm 10 Feb 2016 -- RF

Elevated WILDFIRE Concern 

Effective From 12:00 pm– 6:00 pm 10 February 2016

*****Burn Bans Are In Effect for the following Counties in the SCTX_Aware monitor area; Caldwell, Travis and Hays*****

Elevated Fire Weather is forecasted for the SCTX Area today 10 Feb 16; to include all counties under our monitor system. Williamson, Travis, and Hays.

Most of the concern will be along and West of the IH35 Corridor of the SCTX_Aware monitor area, however concerns for the remainder of the SCTX_Aware area can’t be totally ruled out.

Elevated conditions will began around the 12:00 pm, through 6:00 pm, when humidity and wind conditions will raise/lower, respectively. 

Winds will be below the established critical threshold of above 20 mph but will be mainly out of the South at 10 – 12 mph. during the period, with slightly higher gusts possible. Humidity levels should remain above establish critical levels of 20% or lower but will still be around the 22 – 25% during the concern period

Care should be taken to conduct no outdoor burns, or activities that could produce a wildfire situation.

Again this is a Elevated Wildfire Concern for today from 1200 -1800 hrs 10 February 2016.

We will be monitoring the situation --- RF/RW SCTW_Aware

Planned Road Closures on I-35 at Yarrington Between Kyle & San Marcos

TXDOT will close the main lanes of I-35 at Yarrington Road (between Kyle and San Marcos) from 8pm-5am on February 7th-11th (this coming Sunday through next Thursday) to allow demolition of the old Yarrington Road bridge.

During the closures, traffic will be diverted onto the access roads as follows:

Northbound traffic on I-35 will take Exit 210 toward Yarrington Road. Northbound traffic will re-enter the highway at the entrance ramp north of Yarrington Road.

Southbound traffic on I-35 will take Exit 210 toward Yarrington Road. Southbound traffic will re-enter the highway north of the Blanco River.

Trying to Make Your Way Back to Austin from D.C.?

The big blizzard ended as expected overnight, but has left behind a huge mess that will take, in some cases, days to fully clean up.  Above is an image showing total snowfall across the northeast into southern New England from this event. Below is the same image, zoomed in on Washington DC at the center:

As feared/expected, as much as 2-3 feet of snow fell across much of the DC area, northwest into western Maryland and northcentral Virginia.  Drifts of snow have buried cars like toys across the region as well.

So, the $64,000 question - "When can I get out of D.C.?!?!?!"  As of this writing, Washington Dulles International Airport says that there are no departing flights scheduled for today, as they'll need the entire day to recover the airport.  You can check the Winter Storm page of their website for later updates.

The same is true for Washington Reagan National Airport, with no departures planned for today.  You can view the airport status on this page.

Snow removal operations at Washington Reagan Airport 1/24/16

If you had flights scheduled out of area airports today, the best bet is to check with your airline on available options as soon as possible.  Remember, the early bird catches the worm, and with hundreds of flights having to be rescheduled, you'll want to be as close to the front of the line as possible to ensure you can get out once regular airport operations resume.

With air travel snarls likely to last into early this week, another option might be to take Amtrak to another city where airport operations will get back to normal faster, but you'll have to wait until at least Monday to use this option out of DC, as Amtrak is not running service there today.  Outside of the DC area, Amtrak is operating on a "limited" schedule today, and should see increased operations on Monday.  Again, you'd want to check with your airline for options in outlying areas first, and then see if Amtrak can help you get there on Monday or Tuesday.  The link to the Amtrak bulletin above pertains to Sunday, 1/24/16 only. For later updates to the Amtrak system status, you can use this link.

So if you're still hunkered down - hang in there - the Lone Star State awaits your arrival as soon as you can get back safely!

Snow Accumulation is Picking Up in D.C.

The snow began in D.C. right on schedule around midday and continues to increase at this time.  This trend will continue into tonight and Saturday, and we still expect nearly 2 feet of snow on average across most of the region, with higher amounts possible in spots:

When you combine the heavy snow with strong, gusty winds, blizzard conditions will occur at times, with widespread blowing and drifting snow likely to continue across the region through Sunday.

Hopefully you're hunkered down somewhere by this point, and ready to ride this thing out.  It is rapidly getting to the point where it is unsafe to be outside, and this condition will only worsen with time.

Our next primary focus will be on letting you know when you will be able to think about getting back to Austin, but we probably won't be able to start looking at that angle until sometime tomorrow, once we see how severe conditions become across the region, and gauge the fallout at major airport hubs all along the Eastern seaboard.

Blizzard Getting Underway in Virginia - Will Reach DC by Tonight

No major changes to the snowfall forecast as a blizzard unfolds across the mid-Atlantic and northeast U.S. today through Sunday.

We continue to expect some of the highest, if not the highest, snowfall totals to occur very near the Washington/Baltimore area, with 1-2 feet likely on average, and localized amounts of 2-3 feet possible.

The images below show the latest total snowfall forecast maps for the region as a whole, and then a zoom-in on the Washington DC area:

Snow has already started to fall in western Virginia early this morning.  Light snow will begin in the Washington DC area by late morning or midday, and will dramatically increase this afternoon and evening, with blizzard conditions likely by this evening and into tonight.

Travel will become impossible across most of the above mentioned areas starting this evening and increasing in severity into tonight and Saturday.  Strong, gusty winds will continue into Sunday, which will cause continued blowing and drifting well after the accumulating snows have ended.

If you're already in the DC area we suggest finalizing your plans to "hunker down" through at least Monday.  You still have most of the morning and midday a hours today to grab any last minute supplies.  We would also suggest taking out some cash from an ATM, in case power outages cause problems with "plastic" currency during the weekend, but that may be a mute point, because it will be very difficult or impossible to move about the area anyway based on present expectations (but it never hurts to be prepared).

Washington DC Area Winter Storm Update

In case you missed the original post this morning, we're following the major winter storm that is headed toward the mid-Atlantic and northeast U.S. for the benefit of Austinites that regularly travel between the capital of Texas and our nation's capital.

Not much has changed since the morning update, and you can still refer to that post for additional details, but we did want to provide the latest storm total snowfall forecast for the region:

...as well as for the Washington DC/Baltimore area specifically:

The amount of snow currently forecasted for the Baltimore/Washington area is approaching/exceeding record levels (#1 in the record books is a 28 inch snow storm in January of 1922, and #2 is a 20.5 inch snow storm in February of 1899).

Regardless of the exact total from the upcoming system, major impacts will be had on all ground and air transportation throughout the region.  The greater Washington DC transportation system (METRO) has already announced closings for the storm, and many airlines are also in the process of cancelling flights and/or issuing waivers.

Because so many airport hubs will be impacted by this storm, it will be important to check your flights ahead of time for cancellations and/or delays from tomorrow through at least Monday.

If you have already arrived in the DC area or will arrive early Friday, make sure that you have a back-up plan to include possibly becoming "stranded" until Monday.

Powerhouse Winter Storm to Impact the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic

Here at SCTX Aware, we don't talk about storm systems in other parts of the country very often, as our focus is primarily on the greater Austin Metro area.  We are, however, paying close attention to the impending major winter storm for the Northeast U.S. tomorrow through Sunday for two primary reasions:  (1).  many Austinites work for the government and frequently travel to the Washington DC area, and (2).  air travel will likely be impacted nationwide by this system.

The impacts from snow from this system will be very high to extreme for a large portion of Virginia, northeast into the Baltimore/Washington DC area, as shown in lavender on the image below (courtesy of our partners at WeatherGuidance):

Within that region, snowfall totals of 1-2 feet, yes, feet, will be common, and widespread blowing and drifting will occur with strong, gusty East to Northeast winds:

The combination of the strong, gusty winds and heavy, wet snow will likely result in power outages in many areas, especially within and near the lavender shaded area on the above image, where wind impacts are likely to be the highest.  Peak wind gusts of 50 mph (and possibly higher in spots) are expected in this general region.

Snow will begin on Friday afternoon in the southwest part of the areas referenced above, and will spread to the East and Northeast into Saturday and early Sunday.

By 7pm EST on Saturday,  here is a snapshot of the likely snow totals on average across the region:

Again, we would emphasize that the above totals are through 7pm on Saturday.  Additional snow will fall on Saturday night into early Sunday, especially from New Jersey/eastern Pennsylvania into southern New England.

Most major airlines have already instituted travel waivers due to this storm, and others will likely follow in the coming few days.  

If you have travel plans into the DC area from Austin today, you will encounter no problems from the weather.  The snow will begin during the day tomorrow and you should expect to be "stuck" at your destination through early next week.  In case you missed it, there was about 0.5 inch to 1.0 inch of snow in DC yesterday, and from the outside looking in the scene could be best described as "pandemonium".  If it was that crazy yesterday from less than an inch of snow, can you imagine what will happen with 1-2 feet of snow this weekend?  The city will be shut down for all practical purposes, and it may take days for it to become fully functional again.

With many major airport hubs to be directly impacted by this storm tomorrow through Sunday, you should also expect widespread "ripple effects" on air travel nationwide through at least Monday, and possibly longer.  If you have any travel plans even in other parts of the country through early next week, it would be wise to check on your flight(s) ahead of time, especially if any connecting flights originated (or were supposed to have originated) from the eastern and northeastern U.S.

"Stay tuned" here to SCTX Aware and we'll keep you updated on any major changes with this system.