A strong cold front is slicing through Texas today dropping temperatures along it's way
and creating some soggy and chilly weather to kick start Spring Break. To give you an idea of just how strong this front is, as of 10am Thursday morning, the temperature in Dallas was 70° compared to 42° reported in Abilene.
Storm Chance Increase -- Some Severe
As winter and spring fight it out, thunderstorms look likely for the Brazos Valley heading into the evening and overnight hours. The Storm Prediction Center has placed most of the area under a SLIGHT RISK for severe thunderstorms -- with the main concern being damaging winds in excess of 60mph and large hail. A very small, isolated tornado threat could be there as well, however the chance for that remains rather small for this round of storms.
Looking at the hour-to-hour guidance, our cold front's arrival time has slowly become earlier and earlier throughout the morning. Expecting the front & storms to start working into the Brazos Valley around 7pm and slowly pushing to the south through the evening.
Considering that some storms could affect the area overnight, this is one of those times you want to make sure the weather radio is plugged in and has fresh batteries. If you don't have a weather radio, but have an iPhone, there is a great app you can download called iMapWeather Radio (cost $9.99). Worth the price -- it will act like a weather radio and sound an alarm if and when a warning is issued for your location...which is important when dealing with storms that blow through as we are all typically sleeping.
Cooler & Soggy
Talk about a cool down! After spending a week in the windy and warm 70s, Friday and Saturday's
high temperatures will struggle to warm into the mid 50s for most.
Due to cooler air at the surface being "overrun" by warmer air in the upper-levels of the atmosphere, cloudy skies and light, patchy rain will make that chilly day a soggy one as well. In fact rain chances continue into the weekend. Friday: 50%, Saturday: 60% (significant rain not expected until late afternoon / evening) and Sunday: 60% (throughout the day).
Grab a jacket, find an umbrella and use caution on any streets that may become water logged. We'll keep you up to date on the latest as we look towards wet next couple of days. In the mean time, don't forget you can stay up to date by following myself or the PinPoint Weather team on twitter along with tracking rain and storms on our interactive radar.
