Updated 845am CDT Tuesday / 23 April 2013

Strong Cold Front Surges Through Texas ….
Overrunning Pattern With Clouds and Some Rain Back in Post Frontal Cooler Air ….
Return to Partly Cloudy and Warmer Late Week Through the Weekend ….

On this Tuesday morning…. a strong cold front is moving across Texas. Given this surface pressure pattern, surface winds are southerly in areas ahead of the front but they shift gusty north northwesterly in the front passes across any given location of the state.

In the upper levels of the atmosphere…. a broad trough.. or line.. of upper level low pressure is situated over the USA with a strong disturbance within this upper air flow stretching southwestward from Wyoming into the southwestern USA. Given this upper air pattern, winds over south central Texas and the Austin metro area about 18,000 feet above the ground are westerly 25 to 35 mph.

A strong cold front is approaching the area and will move through our area in the midday hours today with unseasonably cool temperatures to quickly spread into our area through the afternoon. Widely scattered to scattered rain showers and thunderstorms along the leading edge of the front with lighter rain showers and gusty winds along with the much cooler temperatures after the front passes.

The cold front will move off the Texas coast and well into the Gulf of Mexico but clouds and slim rain chances will continue locally in the post frontal atmospheric environment as a result of a series of upper level low pressure disturbances remaining to our west and making their way across the area through Friday. This produces an “overrunning” pattern with clouds and slim rain chances persisting tomorrow through Friday.

More sunshine with a return southerly wind and warmer temperatures will prevail by late in the day Friday and through the weekend.

Have a good Tuesday night and Wednesday…
Meteorologist Troy Kimmel

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