Exceptionally cold weather arrives Thursday

Get ready, y’all. Exceptionally cold air is set to surge into Central Texas later this week. Although we likely won’t set any temperature records from this cold blast, we’re expecting at least two days with morning lows below 20°, at least two days of afternoon temperatures below 30°, and strong wind gusts dropping wind chills into the single digits and even below zero. For a full discussion on how cold it’ll get later this week, be sure to read this article that focuses solely on the cold. Until the cold weather arrives, the weather is going to be whatever; it won’t be anywhere near as cold as it’s going to get but we also won’t be seeing much of any sunshine. Temperatures today starting out in the low-to-mid 40s will warm only into the upper 40s and low 50. Some of us could see sunshine, but the majority of us stay socked in with cloud cover. Tomorrow’s weather will be a bit better, but the pre-Arctic chill lasts. Temperatures overnight tonight, with some clearing of the clouds, will dip into the mid-to-upper 30s by Wednesday morning. Whatever clouds dissipate overnight should move back in Wednesday and it’ll be another cloudy and cool one on the first day of winter. Highs will only again reach the upper 40s and low 50s.

Thursday’s front is set to barrel through in the morning. While morning temperatures may start out in the low 40s, the quick arrival of the front means temperatures will CRASH down. By lunch time, the front will have already cleared the I-35 corridor and will almost be through the Brazos Valley. Morning highs, ahead of the front, in the 40s and low 50s should drop close to or below freezing around lunch time. By 3 PM, temperatures are expected to slide into the 20s. Exceptionally strong north winds are expected Thursday after the front passes through, potentially gusting between 30 and 50 MPH. Gusty winds and the cold combine together to drop afternoon wind chills Thursday into the teens.

The coldest time after Thursday’s front will be Thursday afternoon through Saturday morning. Winds remain strong, gusting between 25 and 35 MPH, and will pull cold air through our area. The strong winds may keep Friday’s morning temperatures a bit higher than previously thought, but the wind chill may be lower than what we saw during February 2021′s deep freeze. Morning lows Friday will be close to or just above 10° but wind chills drop into the single digits Thursday after sunset and will dip below 0° by Friday morning. Wind chills likely range from -10° to 0° Friday morning and will only maybe climb to around 10° Friday afternoon. Thankfully, despite the dangerously cold wind chills, Friday will be a sunny day. We won’t get back above freezing as highs settle in the mid-to-upper 20s.

We’ll be back into the teens and low 20s for morning lows Saturday and Sunday with wind chills likely in the single digits again, but the winds should substantially relax Friday evening. With abundant sunshine through Christmas weekend, our temperatures will warm up! We’ll climb back above freezing, briefly, Saturday afternoon with highs in the mid-30s, but we’ll climb even more on Christmas into the low-to-mid 50s. Two more near or sub-freezing mornings are expected Monday and Tuesday, but highs should return back into the low-to-mid 50s. By the time we reach our next chance of rain, which may be next Thursday, our highs will warm back into the 60s and maybe even the 70s!

Copyright 2022 KWTX. All rights reserved.