No other way to say it -- it was a cold, frosty morning across all of the Brazos Valley this morning. Freezing temperatures were found not only here at home but across much of The Lone Star State. High pressure sitting overhead overnight allowed for clear skies, calm winds and a very dry air mass which are the perfect ingredients for "radiational cooling." Weather Watchers waking up, checked in with the following temperatures:
Here are the preliminary lows from the National Weather Service as well:
Rainfall Data from Centerville
Speaking of weather watchers, our Centerville watcher emailed in with his 2011 rain data. Like the rest of the Brazos Valley -- the drought is VERY evident when you look by the numbers:
-- 2011 Rainfall: 25.23"
-- Normal: 43.00" (Leaving a 17.77" deficit)
-- 2010 Rainfall (for perspective): 30.80" (12.20" deficit)
Reinforcing Front en Route
While a nice, sunny day is currently underway for this Tuesday -- Wednesday will bring a bit more cloud cover to the area. That same high pressure that helped to drop temperatures overnight is sliding east waking up a south to southeast wind in the Brazos Valley. Moisture will slowly increase out of the Gulf over night leading to the possibility for patchy fog early tomorrow morning. Given more time, rain chances could have increased if the moisture really had a chance to rebound -- however, as a part of an upper level system swings past, a weak cold front will keep temperatures in check and drop any chance of rain even making an appearance in the forecast.
Series of Cold Fronts
A big question mark starts to form as we near the weekend and end of the 7 day forecast. Two
areas of energy will make their way towards Texas, the first due in late Saturday. Confidence quickly drops on Sunday as our next upper level system swings wider and farther to the west. Extended forecast computer models are back and forth on solutions as to how this weather maker will evolve. The latest output calls for a "cut off low" to develop over the heart of Texas which would drastically improve our shot at rain Monday into Tuesday. If you were to lean towards the solution, from this mornings earlier model run, of an open trough that would clear the area by late Sunday / Early Monday, rain chances wouldn't even cross your mind as moisture would be too far lacking.
Where do we go from here? Well...we wait before making any big decisions -- but I bet you can guess what the topic of tomorrow's blog will be.
Sunday: (Evolving upper level system)
Monday: (Questionable Cut-off Low)
