Updated 845am CDT Thursday / 11 April 2013
Stable Weather Pattern into the Weekend ….
Cooler than Average Temps Warm Up Beginning Tomorrow ….
Southerly Winds Increase Low Level Moisture over the Weekend ….
On this Thursday morning…. a strong cold front is moving southeastward from the western Ohio Valley southward through Mississippi and southeast Louisiana into the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. Surface high pressure.. behind the front.. is located from the central plains southward into Texas. Given this surface pressure pattern, surface winds are northerly across our area of Texas.
In the upper levels of the atmosphere…. a strong upper level low pressure is over western Iowa and eastern Nebraska with a trough.. or line of upper air low pressure.. extending southward through the plains states. Given this upper air pattern, winds over south central Texas and the Austin metro area about 18,000 feet above the ground are southwesterly 55 to 65 mph.
As the upper level low pressure area up north continues to move eastward slowly, the surface high pressure, behind the front that moved through our area Wednesday morning, is overhead and will be moving east of the area by tonight into Friday with a return southeasterly surface wind. The unseasonably cool and drier surface conditions will change to more humid as the southeasterly winds return tomorrow through the weekend into early next week.
Sunshine is expected over the remainder of the week clouds increasing a bit by the weekend.. even still, we’ll see lots of sunshine through the weekend with much warmer temperatures. Current indications are that highs will rise into the 80s over the weekend and into early next week with potentially some 90s for parts of south central Texas next Tuesday and Wednesday.
Another cold front is suggested by the longer range forecast guidance for next Wednesday morning with a slim chance of rain showers and thunderstorms with the actual frontal passage. Somewhat cooler air will move into the area in the wake of the cold front next Wednesday night and Thursday.
Have a good Thursday night and Friday…
Meteorologist Troy Kimmel
Contact me:
tkimmel@austin.utexas.edu
http://www.facebook.com/troykimmel