An analysis of synoptic patterns associated with strong north Texas cold fronts during the 2005-06 cold season

Data from a total of nineteen frontal passages that affected north Texas during the 2005-06 cold season were gathered and studied. The goal of the study was to gain a greater understanding of which synoptic patterns are best correlated to strong cold frontal passages across north Texas. Backward air parcel trajectories were run using HYSPLIT for each of the nineteen cases to classify each front as either Arctic or Pacific. Anomalies of 500 hPa geopotential height, 2-m air temperature, and mean sea level pressure (MSLP) for each Arctic front case were analyzed for each of four days leading up to the day of frontal passage. Significant anomalies in MSLP and 500 hPa height three days before frontal passage at a latitude range of 50 N to 60 N were associated with the strongest Arctic frontal passages in north Texas. Weaker anomalies in MSLP and 500 hPa height were typically noted with the Pacific fronts, but these were studied in less detail than the more significant Arctic cases.