Arctic air spreading into Texas behind Thursday’s cold front brought freezing temperatures to the Hill Country and the Interstate 35 corridor Friday morning. According to LCRA’s Hydromet, temperatures early Friday generally reached the mid and upper 20s across the Hill Country, the low 30s across the Interstate 35 corridor and the mid to upper 30s for areas east of I-35. It’s interesting to note the temperature at a handful of gauges across the western Hill Country, between Sonora and Brownwood, bottomed out in the middle and upper teens.
A very stable atmosphere in the wake of Thursday’s cold front will cause sunny and dry weather this afternoon and again on Saturday. Expect breezy north winds at 10-15 mph this afternoon, with wind speeds diminishing to around 5 mph this evening and overnight. Light east and southeasterly winds are forecast Saturday. Another freeze is forecast for the Hill Country and the Interstate 35 corridor Friday night, followed by noticeably milder temperatures Saturday into Sunday.
- High temperatures Friday will generally be in the mid-50s
- Low temperatures Saturday morning will include the upper 20s across the Hill Country, the low 30s across the Austin/I-35 corridor, with mid and upper 30s at most other locations.
- High temperatures Saturday are forecast to be in the mid-60s.
- Low temperatures Sunday morning will generally be in the upper 30s to low 40s.
Sunday’s sky will start off sunny, then become partly to mostly cloudy by afternoon as a moisture starts to return off the Gulf of Mexico. Look for southerly winds to increase at a range of 10-15 mph. Sunday’s temperatures is forecast to warm to the upper 60s. Lows Monday morning will generally be in the mid and upper 50s.
For Monday, expect widespread low clouds along with a few spotty light rain showers till about midday. A partly cloudy to mostly sunny sky will follow in the afternoon. It will be a breezy and warm day. High temperatures will generally be around 80-82 degrees, although some mid-80s will be possible across the western and northern Hill Country.
Forecasts call for the West Texas dry line to push east through the Hill Country Monday evening, then stall somewhere close to the Interstate 35 corridor. Moisture convergence along the dry line may cause the development of a few scattered thunderstorms across the Hill Country and the I-35 corridor Monday evening through about midnight Monday night. The probability for thunderstorms will be around 30 percent. Lows Tuesday morning will be mild—ranging from around 60 degrees across the Hill Country to the upper 60s across the coastal plains.
For Tuesday, expect widespread low clouds and spotty light rain showers through the morning hours, followed by a partly cloudy sky in the afternoon. The temperatures is predicted to warm to around 80-82 degrees.
Big changes in the weather are forecast to take place beginning Tuesday night when a strong cold front sweeps south across our region. There will be just a slight chance for a few rain showers along the front when it moves across Central Texas, with a better chance for rain and thunderstorms occurring across the coastal plains region. The bigger news will be the much colder air that spreads in behind the cold front Tuesday night into Wednesday.
- Lows Wednesday morning will include the low and mid-30s across the Hill Country, the upper 30s across Central Texas, and low to mid-50s across the coastal plains.
- High temperatures Wednesday are forecast to be near 40 degrees across the Hill Country, in the low and mid-40s across Central Texas, and the mid-50s across the coastal plains.
- Lows Thursday morning are forecast to be in the upper 20s across the Hill Country, near 30-32 degrees across Central Texas, and the upper 30s to low 40s across the coastal plains.
- High temperatures Thursday are predicted to be in the mid and upper 40s, and in the low 50s towards the coast.
Adding to the weather scenario for the middle of next week, forecast solutions call for a potent trough of low pressure located over the Four Corners region to lift northeast to the southern Plains states between Wednesday and Friday. This system is predicted to cause a pattern of light overrunning precipitation across a large part of Texas Wednesday and Thursday.
With temperatures forecast to be near, or just above freezing across the Hill Country and Central Texas regions during this period, there will be a fair potential for the development of a wintery mix of sleet, freezing rain and snow flurries. However, it is too early to have much confidence in where and what type of precipitation will develop. There are many questions yet to be answered, including just how cold the airmass will be, how long the rain and/or wintry precipitation will last, and how much, if any, wintry precipitation will accumulate. These questions will be answered in the coming days as the forecast models get a better handle on this developing wintery situation. Apparently winter is not close to being over just yet.
Dry weather is predicted to develop next Friday as the upper trough lifts north to the Great Lakes region. Sunny, dry and cold weather is forecast Friday and next weekend, with high temperatures in the 50s and low temperatures in the 30s.
Long-range forecasts call for a slow warmup the week of February 28th, with high temperatures in the 60s and lows mostly in the 40s.
Have a good weekend.
Bob
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