Panhandle hook

A common track of a Panhandle Hook winter storm as it curves from Texas, northeastward towards the Great Lakes region.

A panhandle hook (also called a pan handle hook[1] or Texas hooker[2]) is a relatively infrequent winter storm system whose cyclogenesis occurs in the South to southwestern United States from the late fall through winter and into the early spring months. They trek to the northeast on a path towards the Great Lakes region, as the southwesterly jet streams are most prevalent, usually affecting the Midwestern United States and Eastern Canada. Panhandle hooks account for some of the most memorable and deadly blizzards and snowstorms in North America.[2] The name is derived from the region of surface cyclogenesis in the Texas panhandle and Oklahoma panhandle regions. In some winters, there are no panhandle hook storms; in others, there are several.

  1. ^ "Jet Stream - Weather Glossary: P's". National Weather Service. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  2. ^ a b Holthaus, Eric (19 February 2014). ""Texas Hooker" to Bring Midwest Blizzard, Tornadoes at the Same Time". Slate. Retrieved 5 February 2018.