Good morning and happy Saturday everyone!  We have a relatively nice weekend in store for pretty much everyone across the state…perfect for any outdoor Easter activities you have planned. Today will be warm and dry and rain free for all but a few of the Red River counties later this afternoon which may see a chance for a few showers and storms as a cold front drops south into Oklahoma later this afternoon.  Western Texas and south Texas residents will see the warmest temps today with highs in the mid 80s to nearly 90 degrees.  Elsewhere, temps will range from the mid to upper 70s…a bit warm for this time of the year, but still nothing too extreme.  We’ll see an increase in cloud cover today and especially tomorrow as moisture increases across the area, but thankfully we’ll not see any widespread rain chances to muck up Easter Sunday services and festivities. The only chances for rain we’ll see this weekend will be along the Red River near the frontal boundary as it slowly seeps south today and tomorrow.  Other than that, we’ll be dry!

The cold front will get an additional push into the northern portion of the state tomorrow.  This front, while not fast moving, will have some unseasonably cool air behind it…as much as 20-30 degrees below normal, but thankfully the coldest air will stay north of us across the central and northern plains.  A sharp temperature gradient will develop between areas behind and ahead of the front for portions of our state though.  Folks in the eastern panhandle, western Oklahoma and parts of western north Texas may see highs tomorrow ranging from the 40s into the low 50s; however, folks to the south and east may see highs climb into the mid 70s.  The front will make a little more progress to the south overnight Sunday into Monday before it stalls out around the I-20 corridor, then lifts back to the north on Monday.  Another cold front will arrive on Tuesday and may bring some severe weather chances along with it.  More on that in future blog updates.  Have a Blessed Easter weekend!