March will roar in like a lion this weekend with a strong arctic front arriving by early Saturday.  Currently, the front is stalled out just to our north…draped across southern Oklahoma and into parts of far western north Texas and up into the eastern panhandle.  It will embark on a reconnaissance mission tomorrow, venturing into the state about as far south as the I-20 corridor before it quickly retreats back to the north on Friday.  There it will patiently wait to make its full-on attack run on Saturday with temperatures plummeting well below average for Sunday and into the early part of the next work week.  While it’s not at all unusual to see very cold air masses impact our state in early March, it certainly isn’t what anyone hopes for or expects this late in the Winter season.  We’re all ready for warm Spring weather, planting spring flowers and enjoying the outdoors without needing to bundle up as much.  Unfortunately, Mother Nature has the upper hand and we’re going to be forced to be patient just a bit longer.  You know the old saying…March arrives like a lion and goes out like a lamb.  Let’s hope that’s true this year!

Current Forecast Model Loop Friday Evening Through Monday Evening

So, cold is coming…that’s for certain…but what about the threat for wintry weather?  While some forecast models have been indicating the chance for some wintry weather mischief across parts of north and northeast Texas with this next arctic front, there is still quite a bit of uncertainty as to how things will evolve.  I’m sure all the north Texas kiddos are begging for a snow day early next week, but let’s not jump on that bandwagon just yet.  We are still several days out, and with both of our primary forecast models still showing significant differences between each data update, there is simply no way to predict with any certainty just yet if we’ll get snow this weekend.  The better chances will be north of our state, so folks with travel plans to the north this weekend will certainly want to check the forecast for their destination and plan accordingly. But as we all know, getting snow in Texas…is a bit more difficult, and it really takes the perfect combination air at or below freezing with moisture still present in the low and mid levels of the atmosphere for snow production.  That being said, there’s still a non-zero chance, so we’ll be keeping a close eye on it and will update you as the forecast becomes more certain.