Summer in February.  Just let that sink in for a minute.  Highs tomorrow across the state will be likely be historic…even for parts of deep south Texas where some folks will be seeing the thermometer climb above 100 degrees by tomorrow afternoon. The forecast high for Rio Grande City in deep south Texas is 101 tomorrow. Laredo’s forecast is 99.  Most of the borderland cities will see highs in the upper 90s to low 100’s tomorrow.  That’s not the first time 100s have been seen down there in February, but it’s still pretty darn rare.  For central and north central Texas, highs will climb into the upper 80s to low 90s.  For western north Texas, upper 80s for most, but a few 90s will likely make an appearance.  A cold front will move through late Thursday evening and overnight which will drop temperatures just a bit, but we’ll still remain above average for Friday.  We really won’t cool down much until we get into Saturday when highs get only into the 50s across the panhandle, 60s across much of north and central Texas, with mid 70s for the valley and coastal regions.

In addition to the heat on Thursday, we’ll also be dealing withextreme wildfire conditions, high winds, blowing dust and #flamingtumbleweeds across much of far west Texas, the Texas panhandle and parts of western north Texas as well.  Red Flag Warnings are in place across the entire panhandle, far west Texas, Permian Basin, Trans Pecos region, Big Bend region and western north Texas for tomorrow afternoon.  Winds gusting between 50 and 60mph will be possible across much of the western panhandle. Combine that will very low relative humidity values and plenty of dry winter grass and you have the perfect mix for an outbreak of wildfires which could be sparked by careless burning, cigarette butts tossed out of windows and even downed power lines due to high winds.  If you see a fire tomorrow, call it to local authorities (911) immediately.  With the high winds expected tomorrow afternoon, it won’t take long at all for a small fire to quickly spread and get out of control within a matter of minutes.  Please be safe, everyone!