Good Morning from Meteorologist Chris Whited...
* Not quite so cold this morning at the time of this blog update but still temperatures ranging from between 30-35° with a clear sky over the area. Clouds will slowly begin to return later today ahead of our very strong Arctic cold front. Highs will be very mild today ranging between 55-60° across the Big Country, Heartland & Northern Concho Valley. Winds will be breezy out of the south. Enjoy the warmth today because we are heading into the deep freeze come tonight!
* The Arctic cold front will sweep across the Big Country late this evening and overnight. Expect a cloudy night with overnight lows dropping into the lower to middle 20s, with a few spots in the upper teens. Winds will be gusting out of the north between 20-30 miles per hour overnight which will send wind chill readings into the single digits and lower teens. Areas of freezing drizzle and fog, not to mention a few snow flurries will be possible overnight. No matter what form it falls it will stick so be extremely careful if you must be on the roadways overnight.
* Thursday will be cloudy in the morning with some lingering freezing drizzle, fog and some snow flurries. Again anything that falls will stick, so be extremely careful on the roads. Clouds will thin out some but I still feel we'll remain mostly cloudy. Very cold with highs only in the lower to middle 20s across the area. Wind chill readings will remain between the single digits and lower teens thanks to the north wind still ranging between 20-30 miles per hour. Mostly cloudy Thursday night with overnight lows in the lower teens. I think 10-15 is a good average but I would not be surprised to see some colder spots in the upper single digits.
* A extremely cold start Friday will only see high temperatures warming again into the middle 20s across the area. Wind chills will range between 0-10° as we're still seeing a northerly wind, not as strong as Thursday but still enough to add that "bite" to the air. A disturbance will work out of New Mexico and into Texas. This system is forecasted to bring some flurries or even some very light snow to our area. Again anything that falls will stick as cold as it is, but overall I don't see there being any accumulation issues. Having said that new forecast data could change that. That disturbance moves on through then we see what looks to be the coldest night on Friday night with a mostly clear sky and overnight lows in the very low teens and I do expect several areas to be in the upper single digits.
* Weekend: Cold start Saturday morning but a little warmer as highs climb into the upper 30s on Saturday afternoon under a mostly sunny sky. Overnight lows will be in the upper teens. We are still mostly sunny on Sunday but warmer with highs in the upper 40s and dropping into the upper 20s for Sunday night.
* Next Week: Much warmer with highs back into the lower 50s on Monday but clouds increase. Models bring another system into the area on Tuesday with some cooler air. Precipitation is forecasted with this system so I've included a slight chance for the area. Remains to be seem if it's a cold rain or something wintry in the precipitation area.
* The Winter Outlook: The Climate Prediction Center indicates a moderate El Niño pattern will bring West Central Texas a wetter pattern here in the winter months. Increased wintry precipitation is possible depending on temperature trends. Equal chances of above or below normal temperatures remain possible for the area.
* Drought Information: For the latest drought information for the state of Texas please visit the U.S Drought Monitor website by clicking here. The data is updated by the government every Thursday morning around 7:30 AM local time. We're starting to see some light drought conditions returning to the far western counties.
* Join us for the latest news and weather updates in the mornings for Abilene & the Big Country on KRBC's Abilene Today at 6:00 A.M. and on Abilene Midday at 11:30 A.M. Our news and weather coverage continues in the afternoon at 5:00 and tonight 6:00 and 10:00 P.M. on KRBC.
* KRBC on Twitter: You can follow us on twitter anytime for quick weather updates, especially during severe weather and winter weather events affecting the Big Country by visiting the KRBC Weather Twitter. News updates from KRBC and our website BigCountryHomepage.Com are available via twitter also by visiting the Big Country Homepage Twitter.
Enjoy your Wednesday...
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