"Texas Hooker" Storm Brings A Thaw, And Messy, Noisy, Stormy Weather

It's briefly warm across most of the eastern half of the nation today, as expected, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's nice out in most places.

Snowmelt and heavy rain from today's "Texas hooker"
storm might cause flooding in parts of the Midwest.  

A vast area from the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys all the way to the East Coast are in line for violent thunderstorms, and maybe a tornado or two, today and Friday.

Because of rain and melting snow, flood watches are up for a broad stretch from Illinois to western New York. High wind alerts are up in spots from Oklahoma to the Great Lakes. A blizzard is looming for Iowa and Minnesota.

Here in northern New England, look out for a nasty bout of mixed precipitation tonight, followed by a drenching rain on Friday.

It's all due to a strong storm in the nation's midsection. Believe it or not, a nickname for this type of storm is a "Texas hooker."  No, prostitution isn't involved. A Texas hooker is a storm that forms in or near the Lone Star State, then hooks northward toward the Great Lakes.

Texas hooker storms usually cause a wide variety of severe and nasty weather, and this is no exception.

Most of New England from Massachusetts north is under a winter weather advisory for tonight. The Texas hooker's rains will come in as some remaining cold air hangs on in the face of invading warm ir.

The result will be a nasty mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain overnight. It won't be enough to bring down trees in most places, but the roads will get terrible. In Vermont, the bad weather will start after dark tonight, intensify after midnight, then gradually turn to a plain rain Friday.

In the Champlain Valley, there might not be much ice or a mix, as southerly winds will be able to scour out the cold air better than in the rest of northern New England. Most of the precipitation in places like Burlington and Middlebury will be a cold rain.

In Vermont and the rest of northern New England, I don't think Friday's rain and thaw will cause much flooding. There will be some street flooding due to ice-clogged drains, and there might be a few ice jams.

But most of the rain will soak into what until tomorrow is a largely powdery snowcover.

It still looks like most of the nation east of the Rocky Mountains is in for another few bouts of very cold weather next week, and probably into early March.