I hope you’ve enjoyed the warm and dry weather because changes are on the way. A weak area of low pressure sitting near Vernon has caused a small cold front to move south across the South Plains. In the Texas Panhandle we’ve seen temperatures fall into the upper 40s this evening with light winds out of the east/northeast. South of the front temperatures across the remainder of Texas continue to be well above normal for February. For the most part that won’t change tonight as light winds help keep temperatures about 10 degrees above average tonight.

Temperatures will still remain above average across the Panhandle and South Plains tonight with upper 30s into the low 40s north of that weak frontal boundary. Elsewhere we’ll see low temperatures drop into the 40s and 50s when most folks should still be seeing low temperatures in the 30s to 40s on February 11.

By lunchtime on Wednesday the cold front will have slowly moved further southeast roughly bisecting Texas in half. Cloud cover will be on the increase across the Texas Panhandle and West Texas as a storm system approaches from the west. Temperatures at noon will be in the 40s to low 50s from Amarillo south to Midland. South and east of the cold front temperatures will quickly warm tomorrow morning. South Texas will already be flirting with the lower 80s by lunch with 70s across the Hill Country eastward into Central and East/Southeast Texas. The cold front will continue to move southeast tomorrow and as such high temperatures may occur earlier in the day for some folks. You’ll know when the cold front arrives with a wind shift out of the north and a noticeable drop in temperatures. This isn’t a arctic cold front but it will drop temperatures back down to towards February normals for most of Texas by Thursday. It won’t last long, however, as temperatures will warm right back up into the 60s and 70s by Friday continuing into the weekend.

Areas of light rain are expected to develop across the western Texas Panhandle and western South Plains tomorrow afternoon. Scattered showers or light rain will be possible across the Panhandle and South Plains tomorrow evening. Available moisture in the atmosphere in those areas will be fairly meager with rain accumulations expected to remain at or below a tenth of an inch (0.10″).