Blizzard of 2013 grips area

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

The dreaded Blizzard of 2013 kept folks inside but didn’t bury Donley County the way it did in other areas across the Panhandle Sunday night and throughout the day Monday.

While Amarillo received around a foot and a half of snow with drifts as high as six feet, Clarendon’s snowfall was considerably less – two or three inches by some measures – and blew so much that there was still some bare ground in a few areas Tuesday morning.

Tommie Saye, Clarendon’s Cooperative Observer for the National Weather Service, officially measured 0.53 inches of precipitation during the storm, and that came in the form of rain, sleet, small hail, and snow.

Clarendon ISD and Clarendon College canceled classes Monday as did Hedley ISD, and snow and wind forced state officials to shut down US 287 from Childress to Amarillo and Interstate 40 through the entire Panhandle.

TxDOT crews and other emergency personnel worked throughout the storm, and the American Red Cross opened a shelter at Clarendon’s First United Methodist Church. Six people stayed in the shelter here. By contrast, more than 100 took shelter in Claude where the storm had a greater impact.

Poor road conditions Monday night and Tuesday morning, caused Clarendon ISD and Clarendon College to start classes late while classes were canceled altogether in Hedley and at the CC Pampa Center.

By late Tuesday afternoon, most highways in the Panhandle were back open.

The storm prompted several schedule changes at the Clarendon Public School.

The Broncos’ playoff game against Stratford scheduled for Tuesday was moved to Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. at Tascosa High School. National Honor Society inductions and Concert and Site Reading Contests slated for this week for Clarendon High School were canceled. The high school’s track meet in Childress has been moved from Friday to Thursday at the same time as the junior high meet.

 Clarendon ISD officials say the school will hold classes on April 29 to make up for Monday’s snow day.