BIG COLD FRONT ON THE WAY!

Well we officially climbed to 74°F this afternoon in Austin after waking up on the cool side this morning with temperatures in the 40s and 50s. Over the next several days temps will continue to come up. We will be close to 80°F by Saturday afternoon. However, BIG CHANGES arrive on Sunday with the arrival of a strong cold front.

Short Term Forecast:

Tonight: Mostly clear and cool with lows dipping into the 40s and 50s; some patchy fog is possible in spots well after midnight.

Thursday: Mostly sunny and warm with a high near 75°F...southerly breeze returns between 5-15 mph

Thursday Night: Increasing clouds and cool with a low in the mid 50s; fog and drizzle possible after midnight.

Friday: Fog and drizzle to start the day will give way to a mostly cloudy and warm afternoon with a high near 78°F

Friday Night: Low clouds with areas of fog and drizzle return to the area. Lows only fall to near 60°F

Saturday: Cloudy start gives way to partly sunny and warm afternoon with highs in the upper 70s to near 80°F

Sunday: THE COLD BLAST ARRIVES

IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS:

Computer models are coming into agreement that the much-anticipated cold front will arrive Sunday afternoon between 2-5 p.m. here in the Austin area. You will know when the front arrives as winds will abruptly shift to the north northwest and blow hard between 15-30 mph temps will drop from the 70s into the 50s by evening with temps falling into the upper 30s by Monday morning with wind chills in the 20s expected.. There is about a 30% chance for showers or thunderstorms with the front, however, best rainfall chances look to be along and east of the Interstate 35 corridor. Anything that develops will be moving so quickly with the front that it will not have a sufficient time to produce good rainfall totals.

BELOW IS A LOOK AT GFS COMPUTER MODEL SNAPSHOTS:

SUNDAY AFTERNOON: Front pushing into Central Texas indicated by the abrupt change in wind speed and temperature.

MONDAY MORNING: Temps will be in the mid to upper 30s across central Texas with winds blowing out of the north putting wind chills down into the 20s!!!

MONDAY AFTERNOON: Temps will have a tough time climbing out of the 40s; we may be able to sneak into the lower 50s at best with a brisk northerly wind.

MONDAY NIGHT: Clear and COLD with temps falling into the lower 30s across the area. Some low spots may dip into the 20s.

And get this, latest computer model runs are showing another blast of cold air moving into Central Texas on Friday of next week! COLD WEATHER FANS REJOICE!!!