A half-foot of snow is expected for the Southern Plains this weekend, with winter weather alerts in effect Saturday from New Mexico to Louisiana.
“A strong winter storm system will track across Texas late tonight into Sunday. Widespread precipitation will form within this storm system, transitioning from rain to snow across much of the region on Sunday,” the National Weather Service office in Dallas-Fort Worth said.
This will be a slow-moving system, with more time to dump snow and rain. For areas receiving snow, it will mostly be heavy and wet, making for dangerous driving conditions.
Widespread snowfall of 3 to 6 inches is expected from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Monroe, Louisiana. Higher accumulations exist between Roswell, New Mexico, through Waco, Texas, where up to 8 inches of snow is possible. The higher elevations of New Mexico could reach close to a foot.
“Accumulations of snow will range from several inches over the eastern plains to near 10 inches atop the Sangre de Cristo Mountains,” the National Weather Service office in Albuquerque says.
Even northern Louisiana is expected to see some snow showers. Shreveport is forecast to pick up 2 inches through Monday.
Shreveport last recorded measurable snow on January 16, 2018, with 1.8 inches, CNN Meteorologist Haley Brink said.
“Rain during the day Sunday will transition to all snow or a wintry mix Sunday evening and into Sunday night,” according to the National Weather Service office in Shreveport.
Heavy rain will flank the southern portion of this system, sliding east along the Gulf Coast region. Houston, San Antonio, and New Orleans all have rain in the forecast Sunday.
This system will continue to track east, bringing another round of rain to much of the Southeast through Tuesday.
Wind and low temps expected
This weekend, high temperatures will be at least 10 degrees below average across New Mexico, Texas and Louisiana. On Sunday, the western half of Texas will be looking at temperatures 20 to 30 degrees below normal. A lot of that cold air will stay in place through Monday.
Wind will also be a factor, not only helping to blow the snow around reducing visibility, but also allowing for low wind chills.
Amarillo, Midland, and Odessa, Texas, are all expecting winds of 10 to 15 mph, which will bring wind chills down to around 20 degrees.
Areas of southcentral Texas, including Austin, likely will see some of that rain freeze overnight Sunday when temperatures may dip below freezing.
CNN Meteorologist Haley Brink contributed to this story