Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Amarillo, TX
Issued by NWS Amarillo, TX
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927 FXUS64 KAMA 252322 AFDAMA Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Amarillo TX 522 PM CST Tue Nov 25 2025 ...New AVIATION... .KEY MESSAGES... Issued at 1141 AM CST Tue Nov 25 2025 - Dry conditions and no weather related travel impacts are expected leading up to and including Thanksgiving day for the Panhandles. - A pattern shift this weekend into next week will likely lead to much cooler temperatures and the potential for wintry precipitation. && .SHORT TERM... (This afternoon through Wednesday night) Issued at 1141 AM CST Tue Nov 25 2025 The current synoptic pattern over the combined Panhandles remains conducive for relatively uneventful weather over the next few days. Northwest flow aloft aided a cold frontal passage today, which will keep winds breezy out of the northeast until the evening hours. Tonight will be colder with lows in the 20s, thanks to clearing skies and light winds. Tomorrow will be cool and breezy once again with highs in the 50s as 850mb temps cool. A tightening sfc pressure gradient over the region will promote southwest winds at 10-20 mph with slightly higher gusts up to 30 mph. Expect Wed night to be very similar to tonight, with low temperatures in the 20s on Thanksgiving morning. Harrel && .LONG TERM... (Thursday through next Monday) Issued at 1141 AM CST Tue Nov 25 2025 The Thanksgiving holiday continues to look marvelous meteorologically speaking, with mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies, light winds, and highs in the 50s to low 60s. While there will be quite a showdown of the football variety in the Lone Star State Friday, our weather in the Panhandles is favored to be far less quarrelsome. A minor disturbance within zonal flow aloft will generate a deepening sfc low over eastern Colorado, setting up breezy south winds for the Panhandles, and slightly more mild highs around 60 degrees. This should be a mostly dry system, but can`t rule out ~10-15% chances for stray light showers in the far SE TX Panhandle later Friday. Saturday is the slated arrival date of a stout cold front set to send a piece of polar air to portions of the Plains. Long range models depict a Pacific Northwest trough surging southeast through day, pulling down our coldest air of the season by Sunday. The last day of November leaves us with 40-60% probabilities for high temps to stay below freezing across the northern Panhandles, and 10-40% chances for central and southern areas. Monday will have similar, albeit slightly lower chances to stay below 32 degrees. Lows are progged to be in the teens and 20s Sun through Tue mornings, and if winds are breezy enough, wind chill values may go into the single digits those days across northern reaches of the forecast area. Uncertainty continues to loom regarding the track, timing, and overall evolution of a stronger system forecast to impact the region next Mon-Tue. Global model guidance trended more progressive with this system in some overnight runs (especially the 06z GFS), which has resulted in less moisture return and lower precipitation/snow chances with the morning NBM forecast. However, 12z data is back on similar projections to previous trends suggesting the system may arrive to the Panhandles as a deeper trough or closed low rather than a broad open wave. The latter forecast would likely support sufficient moisture availability to go in conjunction with sub-freezing temperature profiles, conducive for low snow chances for the Panhandles as early as Sunday, but more likely Mon-Tue. Ensemble outputs still vary greatly, and any shift in the system`s evolution will lead to changes in forecast expectations. Bottom line: this is a very typical winter weather forecast for the Panhandles in the sense that we probably won`t have very much confidence until later this week into the weekend. Harrel && .AVIATION... (00Z TAFS) Issued at 516 PM CST Tue Nov 25 2025 No major changes were made to the 00Z TAF package. The overall weather pattern remains stagnate over the area as far as aviation is concerned. Surface winds will become light and VRB tonight and ramp back up tomorrow afternoon. The sole difference being the wind direction tomorrow. Winds are expected to flow from the southwest through much of the day. VFR flight conditions are expected to persist. Rangel && .AMA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...None. OK...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...38 LONG TERM....38 AVIATION...55