Updated 845am CDT Friday / 31 May 2013

A Stable Weather Pattern Continues ….
A Cold Front Due Late Tomorrow Night into Sunday Morning ….
Atlantic Hurricane Season Gets Underway Tomorrow ….

On this Friday morning…. surface high pressure is off the eastern coast of the USA over the western Atlantic Ocean. A cold front is moving southeastward from central Kansas into northwest Oklahoma and northwest Texas and central New Mexico. Another area of surface high pressure is northwest of the front over northern Colorado and Utah. A trough.. or line.. of surface low pressure extends south southwestward from western Kansas into far southwest Texas. Given this surface pressure pattern, surface winds are southerly across our area of the state.

In the upper levels of the atmosphere… an upper level trough.. or line.. of low pressure extends from the Dakotas southward into west Texas. As a result of this upper air pattern, winds over south central Texas and the Austin metro area about 18,000 feet above the ground are west northwesterly 20 to 30 mph.

A pretty typical late spring weather pattern continues across our area. Given this type of pattern, I expect that a fairly dry late spring weather pattern will continue through tomorrow.

By tomorrow night into Sunday morning, a weak cold front will move southeastward across the area with a relatively slim chance of rain showers and thunderstorms. Some of the thunderstorms may become strong west through northwest and north of Austin tomorrow night as the front moves southeastward. Once the system passes, temperatures will fall a few degrees Sunday into Sunday night with a pretty quick return to a southerly wind by late Monday into the mid part of next week.

A quick reminder that the start of the Atlantic Ocean basin start of the hurricane season is tomorrow (01 June) and it continues through the end of November. Pacific storm Barbara has drifted into southeastern Mexico and is no longer a factor for the Bay of Campache or the southwest Gulf of Mexico. Nevertheless, it’s a heads up for all of us to keep up through the coming months with what’s going on the tropics especially given that an “above average” year – reference number of expected storms and the overall intensity of those storms – is forecast.

Have a good Friday night and Saturday…
Meteorologist Troy Kimmel

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