Winter storm coming Wednesday

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Been enjoying the warm winter weather lately? Well, get ready for a change Tuesday evening. “We have a winter storm coming into our area,” said Scott Kleebauer, a meteorologist with Midland’s office of the National Weather Service (NWS). “We’ll see a pretty decent cold front come through late Tuesday afternoon, Tuesday evening, and we’ll see chances of winter precipitation shortly after the front develops over the area.” The storm should pass through the area Tuesday evening or night, although the NWS has issued a Winter Storm Watch until 6 p.m. Wednesday. “Mainly, it looks like the start time for the winter precipitation will be right around the front,” Kleebauer said. “For the Permian Basin down toward I-20, anytime between 6 and 10 p.m. we’ll start seeing a better chance of winter precipitation.” Scurry County’s position in the eastern portion of the forecast area could mean a lighter hit from the storm, but it’s too early to tell for certain, he said. “Right now, our current forecast is, we do see some lighter amounts toward the east, but this is an evolving situation,” he said. Kleebauer said any precipitation should mainly be snow. “It might start out as a little bit of rain when the front comes through, but then you’ll see a progression down toward sleet and then the snow. And there’s a pretty good chance that once it changes to snow, it probably won’t change back,” he said. Winter weather often creates a significant driving hazard. Snyder Police Department Sgt. Mike Counts offered a few tips for drivers dealing with the ice and snow. “Slow down,” he said. “Speed limits are usually based on the normal road and weather conditions, not wintery roads. Usually, try to maintain at least three times the normal following distance.” Counts urged drivers to be alert for frozen conditions more than others, and to know what to do if your vehicle does skid on an icy road. “Use extra caution on bridges, ramps, overpasses, things that could freeze first or freeze over,” he advised. “And then if your vehicle starts to slide, just ease off the gas pedal, work brakes, and steer in the direction of the skid until you can regain traction.” Kleebauer said temperatures shouldn’t warm up enough Wednesday for much of the white stuff to clear off. “For the time being, it looks like snow will probably stick around for sure on Wednesday,” he said.  “Wednesday is going to be a pretty cold day. Some areas will probably struggle to ever hit freezing during the day on Wednesday. Thursday we do have temperatures warming up above freezing, so we probably will start to see some melting by Thursday.”