Palo Duro Extreme Heat Study Summer 2021

The 21 Weather Stations will be recording the very hot temperatures (103-106 F) expected Monday and Tuesday!  Please be very careful if you are hiking in the Park Monday and Tuesday, as most heat illnesses happen when temperatures are near or over 105 degrees.  URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Amarillo TX 756 PM CDT Sun Aug 8 2021 TXZ317-090900- /O.NEW.KAMA.HT.Y.0005.210809T1800Z-210810T0100Z/ Palo Duro Canyon- Including the cities of Palo Duro Canyon State Park 756 PM CDT Sun Aug 8 2021 ...HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM TO 8 PM CDT MONDAY... * WHAT...Temperatures up to 105 expected. * WHERE...Palo Duro Canyon County. * WHEN...From 1 PM to 8 PM CDT Monday. * IMPACTS...Hot temperatures combined with outdoor activities can lead to heat related illnesses. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Drink plenty of fluids, avoid activities during the hot part of the day, stay out of the sun. Carrying extra water is crucial. && $$

The Heat is Back! West Texas A&M Students will be back in the Palo Duro Canyon this weekend observing the heat with the mobile weather station. Isolated storms are also crossing the Palo Duro Canyon on Saturday 7 August.

The last day of July went out with a hot day that proved perfect for WTAMU students to conduct intensive observations with the mobile van and weather balloon system. The morning students also tested the tethersonde system before it got too windy. A cold front and convection brought cooler weather for the start of August late in the evening.

 WTAMU Students were glad to have Professor Sandip Pal and his student visit from Texas Tech University. Dr. Pal is a boundary-layer expert and will be providing his expertise for the study. Unfortunately, we did not get any group photos, as the visit was so fun we forgot to take them! Only driving transects, not weather balloons were conducted on 29 July We did see the first horned lizard:

Successful Intensive Observational Period (IOP) observations were conducted on Wed 30 July. Photos from the field observations follow below. Multiple transects and the first morning and afternoon weather balloon launches, as well as some tethersonde observations before it got too windy.

 After a remarkably cool late June through late July period, a high pressure ridge brought the first triple-digit heat to the Palo Duro Canyon State Park on Saturday 24th of July (101.8 degrees at the floor West Texas Mesonet station).  WTAMU students will be out collecting data next week with National Weather Service forecasts near 100 degrees each day for the Canyon.  

 WTAMU Student Researchers downloaded data from deployed weather stations in the morning of July 15th in Palo Duro Canyon. The rainfall has resulted in lots of vegetation growth, which required "clearing" the weeds from around one of the valley locations. Photos from the excursion are below:

Data collection continues in the Park, but Intensive Observations have been shut down since June 24th due to additional heavy rain and cool temperatures! WTAMU students will be going to the park to check for flood losses on the sensors along the stream in the next week. National Weather Service data on the streak of cool temperatures are shown below, as well as the radar precipitation estimates for the last 2 weeks, where most areas in the region have had 5-10 inches of precipitation!  

WTAMU students conducted the Third Intensive Observational Period on Sunday 20 June. Activities included repairing some stations and downloading data, as well as an afternoon weather balloon lauch that sampled the environment where weak thunderstorms were trying to break the cap with help from intense heating from the canyon walls. The high temperature in the Park was 104.8degrees F at the Texas Tech floor station! The second successful weather balloon launch was also conducted. Photos from the operations are posted below. 

WTAMU students conducted the second Intensive Observational Period on Sunday 20 June. The high temperature in the Park was 106.7 degrees F! The day was characterized by hot temperatures. While not as moist as IOP 1, southeasterly flow and dew points around 50 degrees kept the humidity higher than on some hot days in the Canyon. The first successful weather balloon launch was also conducted. Photos from the operations are posted below. 

  URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Amarillo TX 1253 PM CDT Sun Jun 20 2021 TXZ008-317-210100- /O.CON.KAMA.HT.Y.0003.210620T1800Z-210621T0100Z/ Hutchinson-Palo Duro Canyon- Including the cities of Borger and Palo Duro Canyon State Park 1253 PM CDT Sun Jun 20 2021 ...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM CDT THIS EVENING... * WHAT...Temperatures of 106 to 107 degrees expected. * WHERE...Hutchinson County and Palo Duro Canyon. * WHEN...From 1 PM this afternoon to 8 PM CDT this evening. * IMPACTS...Hot temperatures may cause heat illnesses. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exh...

https://www.newschannel10.com/video/2021/06/11/video-good-news-doppler-dave-visits-with-wt-environmental-science-group-studying-heat-dangers-canyon/

WTAMU students successfully conducted their first Intensive Observational Period 1 (IOP1) on Thursday 10th June, 2021 for this collaborative study with the Amarillo National Weather Service. Great job students on braving the excessive heat and driving 5 transects from the visitor center to the southeast corner of the park during this IOP. Doppler Dave also tagged along with the students to document the IOP for his Good News With Doppler Dave, we will post the link to that story tomorrow. The high temperature at the Texas Tech mesonet station reached a high of 107 degrees after 5 pm. However, very interesting pulse-like surges of cooler (but still very hot) and more humid air appeared to advect up the Canyon during this IOP, with frequent changes in dew points and humidity in the afternoon in the Canyon, effectively resulting in a "stationary" dry line feature today. A spatial and elevational analysis of the 21 Temperature and Humidity sensors throughout the Palo Duro Canyon P...

108 was the high temperature in Palo Duro Canyon on Wednesday; The National Weather Service Forecast for Thursday is 109!

On Tuesday, June 8th, WTAMU students installed the last (#21) Temperature and Humidity Weather Station under difficult working conditions near the famous lighthouse in Palo Duro Canyon State Park, which is a very popular hiking destination. This one is located around 3.7 miles from the trailhead, and required several hours of hiking in the heat! Some wildlife helped distract from the heat and biting flies, including a box turtle and dung beetles. The Park hit 100 degrees F for the first time this year on Tuesday with higher temps forecast by the National Weather Service the next several days. A heat advisory is in effect for the park Wednesday until 6 pm. An intensive observational period (IOP) will be conducted on Thursday by WTAMU students in the park to get additional measurements of the heat. A blog post outlining what they did will be posted on Friday.  URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Amarillo TX 1004 AM CDT Wed Jun 9 2021 TXZ317-092300- /O.CON.KAMA.HT.Y.000...

WTAMU Students worked hard all morning Monday June 7th, downloading data and checking on temperature sensors across Palo Duro State Park in preparation for data collection during the upcoming heat wave forecast this week. Heat, flooding damage, and bugs made for challenging conditions. Some action photos are posted below. It sure is green in the Canyon after all that rain!

 Ah, part of doing research! The unusually heavy rains resulted in very high flows in Palo Duro Creek earlier in May. The stream in Palo Duro Canyon, The Prarie Dog Twin Fork of the Red River, which often dries up during the summer, has measured several periods of high flows exceeding 3,000 cubic feet per second at a downstream USGS monitoring location.  Thus, it is not that surprising that one of our weather stations for collecting data in the lowest elevations of the basin was "taken out" by the high flood, as you can see it bent the t-post and swept the radiation shield downstream.

 WTAMU students will be in the Canyon on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday this week. On Monday and Tuesday, the sensors will be checked ahead of the heat coming on Wednesday and Thursday. On Thursday will be the first intensive observational period (IOP). Stay tuned for more blogs in the coming days.

 4-8 inches of rain across the region over the past few weeks has been great for the drought!  It has not, however, been conducive for studying the heat in Palo Duro Canyon! The trails have reopened and WTAMU students will be hiking to do maintenance on the weather station network this week.  In addition, an intensive observing period (IOP) will likely be conducted with temperatures reaching 96-100 degrees F in the Palo Duro Canyon on Wednesday and Thursday June 9th and 10th. Stay tuned for more blog posts describing these research efforts by WTAMU students.

WTAMU Press Release: https://www.wtamu.edu/news/2021/05/study-into-extreme-heat-at-palo-duro-canyon-being-conducted-by-wt-students.html Channel 10 and Channel 4 Feature Stories: https://www.newschannel10.com/2021/05/20/wt-students-conduct-research-into-extreme-heat-at-palo-duro-canyon/   https://www.myhighplains.com/news/local-news/wtamu-students-conducting-heat-study-of-palo-duro-canyon/