We had a little cool front move into the northern half of the state this afternoon and it’s expected to reach the coast by early tomorrow morning.  Highs Thursday across the state will generally be in the 60s to low 70s.  A few warmer spots across the panhandle and west Texas as the cooler post-frontal air moves east rather quickly out of the area.  But overall, not too bad of a forecast for Thursday.  Unfortunately, any cooling effects from this front will be short-lived and we’ll be back above normal by Friday with highs jumping up into the 80s once again across the panhandle and western Texas.  Still pleasant and in the low 70s for north, central and southeast Texas, but that all changes by Saturday with highs jumping into the 80s and even a few 90 degree readings expected across a large portion of west central and deep south Texas.  This is a good 20 to 30 degrees above where we should be at this time of the year, and it’s likely that both Friday and Saturday, we’ll see a few more records broken. Mother Nature obviously missed the memo that it’s still Winter.

If you’re a warm weather lover, I’m sure you loved the forecast above. But if you’re a cool weather or rainy weather lover…hang tight as we have some changes coming up next week that will make you happy.  We are closely monitoring the forecast for next week with a cold front expected to arrive Sunday along with the chance for a good deal of rain.  The specifics are still too far out to accurately nail down just yet, but for now, we’re looking at the potential for a wintry mix across portions of the panhandle late Sunday into Monday…and widespread rain chances for the rest of the state Sunday through Wednesday.  There’s still details that could change between now and then, but both of the long-range forecast models have been pretty consistent with a nice bit of rain, especially for central and eastern portions of the state next week. In addition to the rain, we’ll see much cooler weather…closer to average for mid-February, so get ready to put away the t-shirts and flip-flops and replace them with coats, boots and umbrellas!  We’ll continue to update as the forecast develops, so be sure to check back!