Record Warmth & High Wildfire Threat:

*** Red Flag Warning for Taylor, Nolan, Jones, Fisher, Mitchell, Scurry, Throckmorton, Haskell, Stonewall, and Knox County from Noon until 6:00 PM this evening. ***

Good Morning from KRBC Meteorologist Chris Whited...

* Record Warmth: Forecast highs will climb today into the lower and middle 90s which is about 20 to 25° above normal for late February. The record high today for Abilene is 89° which was set back in 1917. I do expect we will set a new record today.

* Fire Threat: Gusty southwest winds will blow across the area today bring critial to extreme wildfire danger to the area. As mentioned above a red flag warning is in effect for areas of the Big Country this afternoon and early evening.

* Cooling Trend Ahead: A decent cold front will move through late tonight and bring much cooler weather for Friday and into the weekend. Temperatures will be about 30° cooler on Friday than forecasted today. Also cool over the weekend with upper 50s and lower 60s.


* Next Week: Get ready for another developing warming trend for next week with highs back in the 70s and 80s. No rain is seen in the extended periods.

* Quick Note: San Angelo NWS will conduct a practice tornado warning drill this morning at 9:30 AM as part of Texas Severe Weather Awareness Week.

Have a nice Thursday...

Hot Then Cold Then Warm

From KRBC Chief Meteorologist Randy Turner ....

We (the KRBC Weather Team) have been working on a severe weather special called "Weathering the Storm" to be broadcast in March. I'll let you know the date as soon as we know. We worked on a portion of it today in the studio and had some good fun.

After that, it was time to forecast and what I ended up with, I didn't necessarily like. I didn't like it because there was no rain in the forecast, again, for the next seven days. But, what I did find was this:

Thursday will be hot, around 92 for a high with a westerly wind at 15 to 25.

Thursday Night will be cooler, thanks to a cold front, low near 48. North wind 10 to 20.

Friday will be much cooler than Thursday, about 62 for the high.

Saturday and Sunday highs will be around the 60 mark, with some reinforcing cool air dropping in.

Early next week, a warming trend, with highs back in the 70's by Monday and the 80's Tuesday and Wednesday.

I'll keep looking for rain. Thanks for reading my blog.

Randy

Another Tease Of Summer Weather:

Good Morning from Meteorologist Chris Whited...

* This Is Late Winter? We should normally be sitting in the lower 60s for highs but we sure did get a taste of summer on Tuesday across the area. Abilene officially reached 90° which was close to the record of 91° from 1918. Would you believe Breckenridge was the warmest spot we could find in the Big Country reaching 95°!

* Another Warm Day: Winds will not be so back so temperatures should be a few degrees cooler but still unseasonably warm into the middle and upper 80s. A few high clouds will work in from the west during the day so we should see partly cloudy conditions later in the day. A very mild night tonight with lows into the middle 50s with a few clouds.

* Thursday: Winds will pick back up tomorrow so temperatures will climb back in the lower 90s across the area. We are expecting a cold front overnight Thursday and we normally see a really warm day ahead of a decent front to most spots will be in the lower to middle 90s. I'm forecasting a high tomorrow of 92. (One forecast model (NAM) is going 97!)

* Weekend: Above mentioned cold front will bring cooler air for Friday and the weekend as highs drop back to where they should be in the upper 50s and lower 60s with some chilly nights into the 30s by late weekend.

* Next Week: Get ready for another developing warming trend for next week with highs back in the 70s and 80s. No rain is seen in the extended periods.

* Quick Note: We have a time change coming up on Sunday, March 8th as we go back to Daylight Saving Time. You may recall Congress and the former President Bush extended daylight saving time a few years ago.

Enjoy your Wednesday...

Whew, It's Hot !!!

From KRBC Chief Meteorologist Randy Turner ...

If temperatures today are a sign of things to come, I shiver to think how hot it may be this summer around here. Abilene's temperature at 2pm today was 90 degrees, just one degree away from the record of 91 which dates back to 1918. It's entirely possible that we'll tie or perhaps break the record, we'll know by about 5:30pm today when the official report is issued.

In case you are wondering, the normal high for today's date is 63.

The next two days will be close to this warm, with my forecast highs being 87 on Wednesday and 90 on Thursday.

The next cold front is Thursday night which will drop our afternoon highs close to 65 degrees for Friday, very close to normal for this time of year.

Another cold front is due Saturday night which means Sunday, with a high near 60, may turn out to be the coolest day of the next seven.

Rain isn't in my forecast at this time, although one model hinted at bringing showers up from the south Sunday night, although confidence in that is very low at this time. I'll leave the forecast a dry one.

This Is Late Winter?

Good Morning from Meteorologist Chris Whited...

* We should normally be seeing high temperatures into the lower 60s for the end of February but it is going to see like late May or June out there today with highs climbing into the upper 80s and a few spots in the lower 90s today across West Central Texas. High pressure off to our east and a strong low pressure to our west are pulling a strong pressure gradient across the Big Country which simply means windy conditions today. Those south/southwest winds are the reason it's going to be so warm today. A few high clouds are possibly today across the area. Tonight we drop into the lower 50s with a few upper 40s but still breezy.

* Another very warm day tomorrow with middle to upper 80s and still into the lower to middle 80s on Thursday. A cold front will arrive overnight Thursday/early Friday cooling us back into the 60s for highs over the weekend before another slight warming trend early next week.

* Rainfall Outlook: Not Good... We remain about a inch and a half below normal for the year and as you can see above on the graphical rain breakdown over the last several months, not much has happened as far as rain goes since October of last year. All of the area remains under severe stage drought conditons according to the NOAA Climate Data. Extreme drought can be found along the Colorado River in the Heartland.

Have a great day...

Wow, It's Warm !!

From KRBC Chief Meteorologist Randy Turner ....

Several weather stories going on now, none helpful in terms of bring us rain.

First, gusty wind persists Tuesday into Wednesday, leading to yet another Fire Weather Watch Tuesday.

Secondly, unusually warm temperatures are forecast Tuesday, into the middle 80's, thanks to a southwest and westerly wind.

Thirdly, the warmth lingers through Friday.

Whether or not a cold front drops our temperatures this weekend is still a question up in the air, in my view. For now, I'm leaving temperatures warm this weekend with no rain in the forecast.

Warm and Windy Weather This Week

From KRBC Chief Meteorologist Randy Turner ..

As of early Monday morning, temperatures had only dipped to the upper 40's, thanks to a persistent southerly wind overnight.

The big weather stories this week will continue to be the drought, high wildfire danger, gusty wind and warmer than normal temperatures.

Concerning the dry weather, it doesn't appear any rain relief is on the way anytime soon, no rain in my forecast through the next seven days.

Concerning the high wildfire danger, you know the drill. EVERYDAY is a high wildfire danger day this week.

Concerning the gusty wind, areas of low pressure will keep the wind machine cranked on a daily basis much of this week.

Concerning the temperatures, if you like Spring, you'll love this week's temperatures. In the 70's today (Monday) but in the 80's Tuesday through Thursday.

Sunday night I wrote the next cold front was due Thursday night. But new forecast data Monday morning suggests the front may be delayed, and not as strong, arriving on Friday. Even then, temperatures aren't expected to take much of a plunge, back closer to normal highs and lows for this time of year.

I wished I had better news concerning rain, but the dry pattern continues.

Much Warmer This Week

From KRBC Chief Meteorologist Randy Turner ....

Spring Fever is in the air this week in the Big Country and Heartland. Warm air from the southwest overspreads the area starting with the 70's on Monday with 80's on Tuesday through Thursday.

One cold front this week is expected on Thursday night so Friday will be our coolest day of the week with highs around 60. A warming trend will return for the upcoming weekend.

Rain? I wished I had better news, but I don't. No rain is in my seven day forecast.

Wind? Yes, always, plenty of it this week, especially Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Bottom line - the wildfire danger will persist and temperatures will be 10 to 15 degrees above normal most of the week.

High Wildfire Threat Today:

*** Red Flag Warning in effect from 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM for Taylor, Nolan, Mitchell, Scurry, Fisher, Jones, Callahan, Shackelford, Eastland, Haskell, Throckmorton, Stonewall, Knox, Stephens, Coke, Runnels, Coleman, Brown & Comanche County. (All of the KRBC Viewing Area)

Good Morning from Meteorologist Chris Whited...

* Very high fire threat for the area today as gusty southwest winds will bring one of the ingredients for wildfires across the area. Another factor is it will be a very warm day with highs in the middle 70s, not to mention our dry weather pattern continues.

* A cold front will arrive overnight bringing cooler weather for the weekend with highs in the middle to upper 50s. The winds will still be going but out of the north bringing in the cooler air across our area.

* Next Week: Models the last two days have really been pushing a major warming trend for next week with highs in the upper 70s and some spots touching 80 by mid-week. The pattern remains dry and the fire threat high.

Have a great weekend...

Cooler & Less Winds Today:

Good Morning from Meteorologist Chris Whited...

* Much cooler day for the Big Country thanks to a weak cold front that slipped in from the north last night. As I blog this just after 4:00 this morning, temperatures are in the 30s across many areas. Daytime highs today will only climb to near 60° in many locations. Another cool night in the area with lows in the middle 30s. Ample sunshine today and clear conditions are expected overnight.

* A quick warming trend for your Friday as well as the winds picking back up out of the southwest so the fire threat will have to be monitored across the area. A decent cold front will move in Friday night and cool us back down over the weekend with highs near 60° once again with mostly sunny conditions.

* Rain Chances: Still not looking good over the next seven days for the area. We really need some rain as severe to extreme drought conditions are in effect across West Central Texas.

Have a great Thursday...

Not Much Change In The Forecast:

*** Red Flag Warning in effect for Taylor, Nolan, Mitchell, Callahan, Shackelford, Jones, Fisher, Scurry, Stonewall, Haskell, Throckmorton, Coke, Runnels, Coleman, Brown, Stephens, Eastland & Comanche County for Today ***

Good Morning from Meteorologist Chris Whited...

* Wildfire threat still a concern today across West Central Texas with the dry conditions and northwesterly winds that will stream across the area today. Fire Weather Watch for most areas with a Red Flag Warning in place for the eastern counties.

* Not much change in the weather. The windy conditions will keep us warm today, but as the winds let up we should see some slightly cooler weather work in there for Thursday before the winds pick back up and warm us up again on Friday. A front Friday night should push some cooler weather back into the area over the weekend.

* Looking Ahead: We begin to warm back up early next week with highs back in the upper 60s and lower 70s. There is no rain chance for the area the next seven days.

Enjoy Your Wednesday...

Extreme Wildfire Threat Today:

*** Red Flag Warning from 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM for Taylor, Jones, Shackelford, Haskell, Throckmorton, Knox, Fisher, Nolan & Coke ***

*** Lake Wind Advisory from 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM for Taylor, Jones, Nolan, Haskell ***

*** Fire Weather Watch from Wednesday Morning - Wednesday Evening for all of the Big Country, Hearland & Northern Concho Valley ***

Good Morning from Meteorologist Chris Whited...

* Extreme wildfire threat today due to gusty southwest winds and temperatures that will warm quickly into the middle and upper 70s this afternoon. Clouds will begin to decrease as we work into the day and tonight.

* A cold front will arrive this evening and bring slightly cooler air back to the area by Wednesday but the air will modify and warm back up before another cold front on Friday brings another back of cooler air by the weekend. The airmass behind the fronts is not too cold, but it will be cool enough to hold highs in the middle 50s to middle 60s. No rain chances for the next seven days are anticipated.

Enjoy your Tuesday...

Isolated Light Showers Possible

From KRBC Chief Meteorologist Randy Turner ...

The isolated light showers referred to in the title are only around Monday night into Tuesday morning, that's it. I wish I could give you better news, but that's the extent of our rain chances for this week, the way it looks right now.

Looking ahead to Tuesday, it should be considerably warmer, by 25 to 30 degrees, over what we had Monday. Tuesday will also be a very windy day as winds shift into the west during the afternoon and become gusty. This leads to the ever present high wildfire danger.

Windy weather continues into Wednesday as winds shift to the northwest, then to the north behind a front. Wednesday temperatures should be in the 60's but Thursday will be different.

Highs Thursday are forecast only in the 50's. Friday is a brief warming trend back to the 60's but Saturday and Sunday look cooler, similar to last weekend, highs forecast in the 50's.

Freezing temperatures are forecast overnight on Wednesday night and Saturday night so your plants aren't out of danger yet.

I think we still have plenty more shots of cold to go this winter.

Cloudy Start To The Week:

Good Morning from Meteorologist Chris Whited...

* Cloud cover continues to stream along the subtropical jet stream out of the Pacific Ocean, across Northern Mexico and into West Texas and the Big Country this morning. Clouds will stick around all day and into tonight as well. There may be enough moisture to squeeze out an isolated shower in spots but it looks like most of us will be dry today. Temperatures hold in the lower to middle 50s and tonight we only dip into the upper 40s.

* Wildfire Threat: Winds will be on the increase later today and especially tomorrow ahead of a cold front that will move through Texas in the afternoon. We'll have a high wildfire danger thanks to the winds tomorrow. Remember, just about all the counties in our viewing area are under a burn ban.

* Rest of the Week: Windy and Warm Tuesday with 70s before the front sweeps across and the rest of the week going into the weekend looks mostly sunny to partly cloudy with highs in the middle 50s to middle 60s and overnight lows into the 50s. The forecast pattern looks to remain dry.

Have a great Monday...

Isolated Showers Possible Monday

From KRBC Chief Meteorologist Randy Turner ...

Skies will remain cloudy through Monday and much of Tuesday. We have a slight chance for light showers developing Monday and Monday night as a weak energy source traverses our area. Don't expect much. Most will miss out entirely.

Temperatures will be up and down this week. Monday is cool with highs in the 50's. Tuesday is probably the warmest day of the week as we shoot up to the middle 70's. Wednesday is pleasant, in the 60's, but Thursday is cold again, in the 50's. The upcoming weekend shouldn't be too bad, not as cold as the weekend we just finished.

Besides the slight chance for rain Monday, the chance for rain doesn't look good and a dry forecast is anticipated Tuesday through Sunday.

Fire weather will increase Tuesday with gusty wind and warm and dry conditions.

Don't forget Storm Spotter Training, coming up this Saturday, February 21st, at Abilene Christian University, starting at 9:00am. This year, it will be a much shorter day for spotters. We'll try to finish up everything by 1pm and call it a day. Basic and advanced training will be held in the morning and we will have a storm chaser speak to the group. This is all free and open to everyone to attend. Storm spotters who routinely provide safety information are urged to attend and brush up, just in time for the Spring storm season. I'll see you there !

Randy

Front Arrives Today:

Good Morning from Meteorologist Chris Whited...

* From the NWS/San Angelo:

A relatively quiet weather pattern is indicated for our region during the next 7 days. Considerable high cloudiness associated with southern stream upper jet is overspreading our region. Low-level moisture transport is bringing low clouds into the southern third of our counties. The cloudiness is limiting the radiational cooling and fog development looks unlikely. Thus have removed fog from the forecast this morning.

A weak and dry cold front will drop South across West Central Ttexas later today. A reinforcing cold front will push down across our region on Sunday. This should help to keep highs cooler than what we have seen in recent days. Early next week an upper low and trough off the California coast is progged to open into a wave and eject east across the central rockies and into the Central Plains by Tuesday afternoon.

With this setup the surface low is progged to develop in the lee of the Colorado Rockies by Tuesday morning with a surface trough extending south along the Texas/New Mexico border. Surface trough/dryline progged to advance east across west central texas on tuesday. This would bring elevated fire weather conditions with intrusion of much drier air and gusty southwest to west winds. With such weak surface and upper support indicated for our area Monday/Monday night have removed the pops from our eastern counties. At this point looks like a dry forecast into the middle of next week.

Ho-Hum !!

From KRBC Chief Meteorologist Randy Turner ...

Wind is the story again today into tomorrow, not as high as we saw earlier this week, but breezy nonetheless.

A cold front late in the day Friday will drop our temperatures to around freezing by early Saturday morning. Temperatures this weekend will be cooler than they are now, highs middle 50's on Saturday and near 60 on Sunday.

There is one slim glimmer of hope for rain and that comes with a weak system passing through the area Monday night. Honestly, chances don't look good. I wished I had better news concerning rain, but it just looks dry for the next week.

So, as the title suggests, a rather ho-hum type weather pattern right now. Warm days, then cool days, back to warm to start next week.

Take care !!

Warm and Breezy Thursday

From KRBC Chief Meteorologist Randy Turner ...

Mostly clear skies prevail Wednesday night and Thursday across the KRBC viewing area.

We'll see temperatures climb into the low 70's on Thursday but the wind will also increase during the afternoon, from the south, at speeds between 10 and 20 with a few higher gusts.

For those of you making plans for the weekend, dry weather is in store. Friday's high in the middle 60's will be followed by slightly cooler air this weekend, around 60 Saturday and mid 50's to 60 on Sunday.

I'm still including a 20 percent chance for rain and temperatures in the 50's for Monday.

Fire danger remains a concern.

A Quiet Weather Day...

Good Morning from Meteorologist Chris Whited...

* Winds are starting to let up this morning after a crazy evening yesterday with severe weather in the eastern areas and blowing dust across the rest of the Big Country. This morning it's still a bit breezy but the winds will subside later this morning, generally back down in the 5-10 mile per hour range. According to the NWS data, Abilene had a peak wind gust yesterday of 52 mph and so far since midnight we say a wind gust to 38 miles per hour.

* Sunny and a bit cooler today with highs back in the middle to upper 60s and quiet tonight with lows down in the lower 40s. Tomorrow looks nice but warming back up into the middel 70s as the wind picks back up from the south.

* A cold front will move into the Big Country Friday evening and bring much cooler weather for the Valentines Day weekend with highs on Saturday only into the 50s and lows at night around freezing. Looks like our next small rain chance will be overnight Monday/early Tuesday.

Enjoy your Wednesday...

Extreme Fire Threat & Severe Storms Possible Today:

*** Red Flag Warning for Taylor, Nolan, Jones, Fisher, Coke & Runnels County from 1:00 PM - 9:00 PM ***

*** Wind Advisory for Taylor, Nolan, Jones, Fisher, Coke, Runnels, Haskell & Throckmorton County from 11:00 AM - 9:00 PM ***

*** High Wind Warning for Mitchell & Scurry County until 9:00 PM ***

*** Blowing Dust Advisory for Mitchell & Scurry County until 9:00 PM ***

*** High Wind Watch for Stonewall County until 9:00 PM ***

*** Severe Weather: Slight Risk Issued by SPC For the Eastern Big Country and Eastern Heartland. Strong to Severe Storms Possible along the dryline this afternoon and evening. Area roughly along and east of U.S. Highway 277, including the U.S. 183 & 283 Corridor and the I-20 Corridor east of Abilene. ***

Good Morning from Meteorologist Chris Whited....

* I think the advisories above just about cover it for today. Extremely high fire danger across the area this afternoon behind a dryline that will advance eastward today. Along and ahead of the dryline, isolated strong to severe thunderstorms are expected to develop. Also we will be dealing with blowing dust at times today to make matters worse.

* Please see the KRBC Forecast: Tuesday AM video forecast for more detail on the events today and of course stay with KRBC News and BigCountryHomepage.Com during the day for breaking weather news.