All it took was a walk out of the door or a tilt of your head skyward to notice a few changes on Thursday -- and especially today. Warm, breezy to gusty and a bit cloudy at times is going to be the norm as we put the finishing touches on this week and jump into another weekend in the Brazos Valley.
Hold On To Your Hat
A WIND ADVISORY has been issued for Milam and Robertson Counties -- along with counties along Hwy. 6 to Waco and I-35 to Fort Worth -- from 10am to 6pm today. Sustained winds will blow
through from the south and southeast at 10-20mph, with the occasional gust upwards of 20mph to 30mph.
Get used to it....wind will be a major player in your forecast through Monday. As our upcoming cold front approaches the area, winds from the south will get rowdy at 15 - 25mph from the south by Sunday, along with gusts up to 35mph+, followed by a brisk and gusty north wind behind our front on Monday (a much colder wind, I might add).
If you have Thanksgiving decorations out or any patio furniture that you have grown attached to, it wouldn't be a bad idea to pull them in closer to the house so that they won't get tipped over or blow away with some of the stronger gusts this weekend. High profile vehicles should also use caution when driving east to west or vice versa.
Stormy Veteran's Day?
It'll be possible. To go along with the wind, our cold front comes down to the final miles for it to make it's way into the Brazos Valley by Sunday afternoon. The best chance for showers and thunderstorms (which we are holding a 60% chance for) will be along and ahead of this cold front.
There is the potential that a few isolated thunderstorms could form just south of the front during the afternoon on Sunday -- should that occur, a slim and isolated tornado threat will be watched for. (Due to the discrete nature of these storms and a strong fetch of southerly winds, it will be possible to get a bit of spin in the atmosphere to enable this chance).
That being said, the main show -- and much needed rain -- should come with the actual front itself.
Severe Weather Threat
The Storm Prediction Center has already outlined the Northeastern Brazos Valley with a "slight" risk
for severe weather on Sunday afternoon / evening (15% chance). Strong, damaging winds will be the main concern, however pocket change sized hail and an isolated tornado, associated with a bowing segment of this expected line of thunderstorms, is not out of the question.
The window for this activity -- between Sunday evening and Monday daybreak. Computer models continue to fluctuate a bit on the arrival of this storm chance / cold front, but there has been good consistency on this time window (more so on a midnight Monday morning to daybreak time frame). Something we'll be monitoring through the weekend and will be watching closely on the radar when and if these storms arrive.
The good news to all of this is that these storms will (likely) be moving through during the overnight hours when severe weather is possible but not as driven by daytime heating. The other good note to point out is that this line of thunderstorms will form to the north and west of the Brazos Valley -- so we'll be able to watch trends up the road and monitor storms as they drift their way into our backyard.
You can always keep up with the latest by following along on Twitter: @KBTXShel @KBTXWeather and on Facebook as well.
Have a great weekend.