TX winter wx thread: Spring-like pattern

[Extremeweatherguy]

It's official...Houston has now had it's 2nd freeze of the season!

IAH is sitting at 32F as of 7am.

Other statewide 7am temperatures include 23F in Fort Worth, 22F in Waco, 28F in College Station, 28F in Austin (Camp Mabry)/23F in Austin (Bergstrom Intl.), and 27F in Victoria.

[PineyWoods]

At 7am here in Tyler we were at 24° and have warmed up to a balmy 26° at 8am.

Well too bad no precip with this, then again would have made for some treacherous traveling here right before Christmas.

I keep looking up into Alaska and Canada for some real cold to start building but it seems to being in a zonal flow. Still early, maybe we'll get a real good cold snap.

[Portastorm]

Yeah, we hit 28 degrees here in north Austin this morning ... about 3-4 degrees lower than what was progged last evening by the Austin/San Antonio NWSFO. They did lower the forecasted lows late last night, seeing how strong the cold air advection was along with the ridiculously low dewpoints.

[Johnny]

It looks like this front had a little more of a bite to it than last weekends front. Enjoy today...it's going to be nice and crisp!!

[Extremeweatherguy]

It will be interesting to watch the dewpoints today. Currently the range from 15-20F across the Houston area, and if they stay this way through the afternoon, then tonight's forecast will need to be lowered quite a bit. We could easily be colder than last night given a mostly clear sky and light winds. Christmas Eve morning definitely has the potential to be a frosty one!

[jasons2k]

Agh! This surpised me as well. My low temp is just a hair below the 32F marker on my thermometer, so I had a low of ~31.5F here. I was not prepared and did not have my pool pumps turned-on or plants ready. I'm glad it was a short freeze 'cuz if my pool lines had frozen I would have NOT been pleased at all. I hope tonight's forecast stays above freezing b/c I don't want to do freeze preps and be Santa (and "host Griswold") all in one night...

[Extremeweatherguy]

Dewpoints continue to fall out there and are now down to 14F at Hooks and 16F at IAH. This is one really dry airmass!

[southerngale]

You might want to do freeze preps, Jason. Last night, the forecasted low for my area was 35° (which they lowered late at night when the temp went below that) - two Weatherbug stations just to my north and south both hit 28°
The official temp down at the airport in Nederland (south of Beaumont) was 34° - not sure what the forecasted low for that area was.

Tonight, my low is expected to be 29° - if they continue to be too high with their lows, as they have been often lately... brrrrr.


A couple of days ago, they had a forecasted low of 36° for us on Christmas Eve night, with 50% chance of rain. I was thinking... ok, with their usual 5° or so of forecasting too high, maybe that precipitation will come in a different form than rain!
But now the forecast is a low of 38° with partly cloudy skies. No chance of precipitation. Where did it go? I was starting to hope for that white Christmas.

[TrekkerCC]

You might want to do freeze preps, Jason. Last night, the forecasted low for my area was 35° (which they lowered late at night when the temp went below that) - two Weatherbug stations just to my north and south both hit 28°
The official temp down at the airport in Nederland (south of Beaumont) was 34° - not sure what the forecasted low for that area was.

Tonight, my low is expected to be 29° - if they continue to be too high with their lows, as they have been often lately... brrrrr.


A couple of days ago, they had a forecasted low of 36° for us on Christmas Eve night, with 50% chance of rain. I was thinking... ok, with their usual 5° or so of forecasting too high, maybe that precipitation will come in a different form than rain!
But now the forecast is a low of 38° with partly cloudy skies. No chance of precipitation. Where did it go? I was starting to hope for that white Christmas.

Wow, that's incredible. We definitely had a colder night than expected up here. (forecast was 29F). We actually got down to 26F. Another below freezing night expected here.

[jasons2k]

Oh boy

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
142 PM CST SUN DEC 23 2007

...TEMPERATURES DOWN TO THE MID 20S ARE EXPECTED TONIGHT FOR THE
LAKES AREA OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA...

.A COLD DOME OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE OVER EAST TEXAS AND NORTHERN
LOUISIANA TONIGHT. THIS WILL RESULT IN THE COLDEST TEMPERATURES OF
THE SEASON SO FAR. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO FALL BELOW
FREEZING AS EARLY AS 10 PM TONIGHT. THE MERCURY SHOULD RECOVER TO
ABOVE FREEZING LEVELS BY 8 AM ON MONDAY.

VERNON-RAPIDES-AVOYELLES-TYLER-JASPER-NEWTON-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...LEESVILLE...ALEXANDRIA...MARKSVILLE...
WOODVILLE...JASPER...NEWTON
142 PM CST SUN DEC 23 2007

...HARD FREEZE WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 10 PM THIS EVENING TO 8 AM
CST MONDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A HARD
FREEZE WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 10 PM THIS EVENING TO
8 AM CST MONDAY.

CARE SHOULD BE TAKEN IF OPERATING SPACE HEATERS TONIGHT. PETS
SHOULD BE SHELTERED. TENDER VEGETATION INCLUDING FRUIT TREES
SHOULD BE PROTECTED.

LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA FOR THE LATER
UPDATES ON THIS SITUATION.

[southerngale]

They've lowered my forecasted low from 29° to 27° -

My central heat decided to quit working when I tried it out earlier this past week. It worked fine when I checked it out one night, then I turned it off before I went to bed. I was going to turn it on the next morning just to take the chill out of the house, and it wasn't blowing any air. Ugh... stupid house - everything keeps breaking. The A/C conked out a few weeks ago and I got that fixed right away. Sadly, even though it was December, we needed the A/C. lol
I can't wait until I move!

I'm about to get a fire going in the fireplace. Thank goodness for those little portable heaters to keep the bathrooms toasty. I'm baking cookies right now, so the oven is warming things up as well.

[Diva]

I too was shocked at how cold it got here last night. House was FREEZING when I got up since we went to bed with AC on. Today has been beautiful though. I love it!

The closest weatherbug station to me said the max wind gust last night was 25 mph. I think it had to be higher than that. At least in the high 30's. House was creaking in Humberto-like fashion late last night.

[jasons2k]

Hopefully those clouds in SC Texas will move in over night and keep us up a few degrees.

[Ed Mahmoud]

Ah, I'm bored. Not cold enough for snow anywhere in Texas that doesn't normally get multiple winter wx events each year, but too cold to be comfortable without a sweater or sweatshirt, and the disturbances coming so close together no real moisture return for t-storms.

[Yankeegirl]

Supposed to get down to 31 here tonight... Just in time for me to finish up my shopping!

[Ed Mahmoud]

Supposed to get down to 31 here tonight... Just in time for me to finish up my shopping!

If there isn't going to be snow or freezing rain, I'd just rather have sunny with highs in the 70sF and lows near 60. With a thunderstorm twice a week for variety.


This dry weather means static shocks at the office and itchy skin.

[Extremeweatherguy]

I am pretty sure we will be getting below 31F tonight. I am already down to 42F here at 5:48pm and temperatures are falling fast. With the dewpoints where they are at, I think mid to upper 20s are not out of the question for many areas north of I-10 by sunrise...possibly a few lower 20s reports in normally colder spots (similar to Brenham this morning).

The next few hours of local obs will be crucial in determining if the NWS needs to update the forecast later tonight. Hopefully we will have a better idea by 9-10pm as to the exact temperatures we can expect in the morning.

edit: The one thing that could ruin this prediction is clouds. If the clouds can manage to move in, then the forecast of 30-32F may wind up being accurate. We will need to watch this closely.

[Yankeegirl]

I have 45 here... its chilly!!

[KatDaddy]

Talk about chilly.......it was 19F this morning N of Fort Worth. Man thats cold for me!

[Diva]

This dry weather means static shocks at the office and itchy skin.

Oh, but it means a great hair day for us gals!! I like!