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Strong Cold Front This Evening
Strong Cold Front This Evening 09/07/12
Greg Morgan – Chief Meteorologist
One more day of heat is in the offing before temperatures drop for the weekend. Highs today will soar into the triple digits for all but the mountains and maybe a few locations in SE New Mexico. Winds will veer to the west through much of the afternoon ahead of an approaching cold front.
The big story is the cold front mentioned above. This boundary will push into the Permian Basin this evening. The time of arrival is tricky. However, it’s best summed up by placing an arrival time around 6pm in the northern counties and 8pm in the central counties. The front will then push south to near I-10 by midnight. Very active weather conditions are anticipated with this evening’s front. Winds will shift to the NE and increase 25-35mph with gusts to around 45mph as the front pushes into West Texas. Blowing dust is likely. In addition to the wind, a few thunderstorms are likely along the front. The best chance of rain today will be in the northern part of our area, then spreading south overnight into Saturday.
Given the increase in wind speed and post-frontal clouds, I doubt temperatures will be able to fall much lower than 65 tonight. However, cooler air will continue to invade on Saturday. High temperatures will have difficulty getting out of the 70’s. Winds will continue to be breezy and a chance of rain will linger through much of the day.
Skies will clear Saturday night. This, along with a decrease in wind speeds will allow temperatures to drop into the 50’s across much of the area. Some locations in the north could briefly approach the upper 40’s. High’s will again be in the 80’s on Sunday afternoon.
Monday through Thursday of next week will be characterized by a warming trend. Highs will be in the 90’s each day under partly cloudy skies.
GM