Blizzard Watch

Got this email today - March 26:

The NWS Amarillo has issued a "Blizzard Watch" for Friday. The weather event should start Thursday evening as rain, transitioning to snow around midnight. Conditions will continue to worsen with blizzard conditions on Friday morning (4 AM to 10 AM) with winds expected to be 30-40, gusting to 50 mph out of the north. Winds will remain in the 20-25, gusting to 30 mph range during the day, diminishing Friday evening. Temperatures will hover between 24-29 degrees all day. Snow is expected to end Saturday morning around 7 AM.

NWS is predicting 7"+ accumulation in Amarillo with 12"+ accumulations in Dumas.

Recovery should be relatively quick with temperatures expected to reach around 44 on Saturday and a high of 68 on Sunday.

Given the forecast, the EOC will be activated on Friday morning by 6 AM. AFD will have a command team at fire admin at the same time. Personnel are invited to arrive earlier and please be safe!

Also, the NWS Amarillo will be conducting a conference call at 1:30 p.m. today to provide an update on the forecast. We will have the briefing up in the EOC or you can monitor from your individual locations. I will send the information out when I receive it.