The Arctic Air Is Here

From Meteorologist Brandon Rector...

As I write this, temperatures are continuing to fall across the Big Country behind the cold front that moved through last night. Just about everyone is in the 20s expect in the southeastern portions of the area where it is in the mid 30s. It will remain chilly all day. Highs for today pretty much occurred around midnight. We'll be lucky if temperatures make it much past the mid 30s during the day. Breezy conditions are expected as well. This means wind chills should be below freezing all day. You should bundle up and dress in layers if you are going to be outdoors.

You'll also need to protect your pets, plants, and pipes this weekend. We will be below freezing for several hours. Lows tonight and tomorrow night should be in the mid 20s. Highs on Saturday will likely only be in the upper 20s to low 30s. We should finally get above freezing again by Sunday afternoon with highs in the upper 30s to low 40s.

As if the cold air wasn't enough to be concerned about, we also have a chance of wintry precipitation. Warm and moist air is expected to ride over the cold air beginning tonight and lasting through Sunday. This is a situation we call overrunning. There is a 20% chance of freezing rain and freezing drizzle tonight. Tomorrow and tomorrow night, we increase that chance to 30% and add some sleet to the mix. That 30% chance continues into Sunday. It looks like it will start as a wintry mix and then change over to rain once we get temperatures above freezing in the afternoon. This should be mainly an ice event due to the cold air being shallow. In the northern communities, however, the cold air could be deep enough that some snow could fall.

As far as amounts go, I think we'll see about a tenth to a quarter of an inch here in the Big Country. A few isolated spots could see more depending on how quickly we can moisten the atmosphere. We are still too dry at the surface for the precipitation to make it all the way to the ground. Of course, it doesn't take much ice at all to cause problems. I think our biggest travel concerns will be for bridges and overpasses. They will be the first to ice over. There could be a few slick spots on other parts of the roadways, but it may take a little while. The ground is warm and will take some time to cool down. There is a Winter Storm Watch in effect for Stephens, Eastland, and Comanche counties beginning tonight and lasting through Sunday afternoon. That watch extends into the eastern portions of the state towards the Dallas/Fort Worth area as well as Texarkana. If you have travel plans towards that direction this weekend, you will want to be very careful and possibly postpone them depending on how travel conditions are when you want to leave. If you have to travel this weekend at all, please be careful and take your time.

By early next week, this all just a memory as temperatures will warm back up closer to the 50s and 60s for highs.

Be sure to keep it tuned to KRBC and this blog for all the latest weather information.

Have a fantastic Friday!