TX winter wx thread: Spring-like pattern

[southerngale]

Brrrr.... the high today is supposed to be 53° - only 47° at the moment, but still time to rise. The Weatherbug station just to my north had a low of 29° last night, as did a few of them just to my south, so I would assume my low was about the same. The forecasted low was 33°. KFDM had a low of 29° as well. BPT airport in Nederland recorded an official low of 34° - I'll never understand why Beaumont's official readings come from a town that is south of Beaumont. lol

Anyway, tonight's forecasted low is 30°.

I don't care how you do it, or who does it, but if we can't have a white Christmas (ha ha), please give us a cold one. A fire in the fireplace on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is just the way it was meant to be.

[Dthomas104]

Amen to that.....60's on Christmas just isnt going to work for me, I wont except anything higher then 55 on Christmas day lol........ A fire in the fireplace is a must for me seeing as this is the first time Ive had a fireplace in my house since I was 2.

[jasons2k]

Interesting - NWS just dropped their lows 2 cats in most places, with me @ 27F now and a freeze all metro Houston. Ouch!

[Extremeweatherguy]

Interesting - NWS just dropped their lows 2 cats in most places, with me @ 27F now and a freeze all metro Houston. Ouch!

yeah, looks like some places may even be bordering on the "hard freeze" category. Definitely going to be a cold night out there!

[srainhoutx]

Snipet from HGX afternoon AFD...

FXUS64 KHGX 162130
AFDHGX

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
330 PM CST SUN DEC 16 2007

.DISCUSSION...
FORECAST IS FOR THE COLDEST NIGHT OF THIS LATE AUTUMN SEASON.
RECENT SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWING A SLOWLY WEAKENING...NE DRIFTING
NEAR-1030 MB HIGH CENTERED NEAR VCT. HIGH IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE
THIS SLOW NORTHEASTERN TRACK AND BE OVER THE CWA SHORTLY AFTER
SUNSET. THIS WILL KILL ANY GRADIENT AND ALLOW ONCE-POWERFUL NORTH
WINDS TO GO CALM. DRY INLAND AIR MASS WITH DEW POINTS IN THE LOWER
TO MIDDLE 20S WILL EFFICIENTLY ALLOW SURFACE WARMTH TO RADIATE
AWAY. TEMPERATURES WILL BE AT...OR SLIGHTLY UNDER...32F FOR A
PERIOD OF BETWEEN 6 TO 8 HOURS. FAR NORTHERN REACHES OF THE CWA
MAY HIT THE MID 20S FOR AN AN HOUR OR TWO NEAR SUNRISE. REASONING
IS A THAT NEAR-20F DEW POINT AIR MAY FILTER OVER A BRAZOS TO
HOUSTON COUNTY LINE WHEN WIND DIES...SETTING UP BETTER RADIATIVE
COOLING. WILL NOT ISSUE A FREEZE WARNING AS THIS IS NOT THE FIRST
FREEZE OF THE SEASON FOR MANY INTERIOR AREAS (FIRST OCCURRED ON THE
MORNING OF 12/4)...HARD FREEZE CRITERIA WILL DEFINITELY NOT BE MEET.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/productview.php?pil=HGXAFDHGX

[Extremeweatherguy]

dewpoints continue to hold steady or even fall this afternoon. Here are the 4pm dewpoints from around the area...

Conroe - 23F
Hooks - 20F
IAH - 21F
Waco - 20F
Austin - 13F
Beaumont - 25F
Hobby - 21F
Huntsville - 23F

Once the sun sets, temperatures are going to take a nose dive!

[Extremeweatherguy]

Hmm. Has anyone seen our forecast for next Saturday night? It is definitely interesting to say the least...

From the NWS...

Tomball - Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 35.

Huntsville - Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 33.

College Station - Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 33.

Cold temperatures (near freezing) + precipitation is always an interesting mix to see in the forecast for southeast Texas.

[southerngale]

We didn't reach our forecasted high of 53° - hit 49° and then started dropping again. It's 44° already and we just gathered some kindling to have a fire in the fireplace tonight. Stupid football game is driving me crazy...... argh!!

[Extremeweatherguy]

6:34pm = I am sitting at 38.7F! Brr..

[southerngale]

Temps are dropping fast tonight! I just told Frick 36 minutes ago that it was already 44° here. Now it's 37°!
Winds aren't an issue tonight though.

[Extremeweatherguy]

I am now down to 37.0F just 30 minutes after my last update. That equates to an incredible 1.7 degree drop in a very short time period!

The big airports, however, are lagging a bit. IAH is still at 42F and Hooks is at 40F. Conroe is colder though and is sitting at 36F as of 6:53pm.

[Yankeegirl]

I have 42.3... been steady for a little while here...

[Extremeweatherguy]

At 8:19pm, I am sitting at 34.3F.

[Yankeegirl]

I have dropped a little... down to 39.9 now...

[Extremeweatherguy]

9pm area reports...

IAH - 39F
Hooks - 35F
Conroe - 32F
Hobby - 44F
Sugar Land - 37F
Galveston - 45F
Huntsville - 34F
Austin - 37F
Waco - 40F
Beaumont - 42F

My thermometer - 33.6F

[Yankeegirl]

I am still at 39. , though it has dropped a little, 39.4, its not dropping as quick as you EWG!

[cheezyWXguy]

whoa...is there some kind of elevation change between Conroe and Houston? Because Conroe is 32 like you said, EWG, but houston is at 44...I dont think the urban heat island effect is that strong.

[Extremeweatherguy]

whoa...is there some kind of elevation change between Conroe and Houston? Because Conroe is 32 like you said, EWG, but houston is at 44...I dont think the urban heat island effect is that strong.

Conroe is always much colder than Houston. I believe this is because A) Conroe is much more rural and B) The city is in somewhat of a "bowl" and since cold air sinks, they tend to cool off more quickly. That is the only way I can explain it. It is important to note though that Houston's temperature is actually recorded at IAH (currently at 39F) and not Hobby (where it is 44F). Even so, the difference between IAH and Conroe is still pretty significant (7 degrees).

[Yankeegirl]

38.7 here now... in Katy.

[Extremeweatherguy]

IAH is now down to 36F, Hooks is down to 34F and Conroe is at 31F (as of 10pm).

I am also now sitting at 32.5F

Brr!