After starting Christmas Day with a Severe Thunderstorm Watch and later a Tornado Watch -- the weather is turning quiet for a whole 24(ish) hours before ramping right back up. Granted we probably won't see the severe weather we did in Madisonville, due to straight-line winds, and near Crockett, due to a brief tornado -- but we will have yet another chance at showers and thunderstorms.
Feeling the effects of our Christmas Day Cold Front
If you walked out early this morning -- to hit the grind stone after the holiday break or just got out to get a jump on returning gifts / cashing in on "after Christmas sales" -- then you know all too well that this was the coldest morning of the season (so far).
Lows fell into the upper 20s in many locations around 8am today. You may be thinking, "So what? We've been below freezing this season already!" True. But we haven't been below freezing with winds sustained at 15mph to 20mph, alongside frequent gusts upwards of 25mph. Those strong northwest winds helped make it FEEL LIKE the upper teens to low 20s when a wind chill was factored in. As I write this blog, we are still finding wind chills down between the low-to-mid 20s at 10am!
Here's an preliminary glance at some of the lows across the Brazos Valley this morning:
On to the Next One
No rest for the weary. After our powerhouse of an upper-level low continues to spread it's severe weather / snowy / blizzard-ry joy across the Eastern half of the United States, we
are already eyeballing a developing system off the west.
You'll notice high cloudiness in the sky this afternoon. That is the signal from the atmosphere that changes are coming once again. Southerly winds return by Thursday afternoon along with mostly cloudy skies and higher moisture values. By Friday, our next cold front breaks it's way into the area -- bringing rain chances to the end of the week and dropping temperatures back below normal for the weekend.
Granted we aren't looking for the severe weather that we saw on Tuesday morning, but we will have a chance at a few isolated thunderstorms -- mainly in our eastern counties.
Temperature-wise, another freezing morning is in store Thursday followed by a chilly high in the 50s by the afternoon. Above freezing once again by Friday morning, but don't get used to it. Lows will be back down to freezing or below by Saturday morning.
Progressive Pattern to End 2012
Still need to hammer out the details, but it looks like we may be dealing with yet another upper-level systems swinging in off the Pacific by New Year's Eve or so. This morning's extended forecast models painted in a very soggy last day of 2012, with another cold front to start 2013 off on a chilly note. Again, timing and details will need to be ironed out -- but keep an eye on the forecast as we start making plans for New Year's Eve.
