Updated 845am CDT Thursday / 6 June 2013
A Cold Front Moving Southeastward Across Texas Into Our Area….
Tropical Cyclone Andrea Moving Northeastward Over the Eastern Gulf of Mexico ….
Dry and Stable Weather Pattern for the Weekend into Next Week ….
On this Thursday morning…. a southeastward moving weakening cold front is draped out along a line from western Tennessee across northwestern Louisiana into central Texas near Waco then west southwestward to south of San Angelo into far southwest Texas and southern New Mexico. Surface high pressure is over the northeastern USA with another high pressure behind the cold front over southwestern Nebraska.. eastern Colorado and northwestern Kansas. Tropical cyclone Andrea is over the eastern Gulf of Mexico about 160 miles west of Tampa, Florida. Given this surface pressure pattern, surface winds are southerly across our area of the state with winds shifting northerly in the wake of the cold front to our north and northwest.
In the upper levels of the atmosphere… an upper level high pressure area is over northern Mexico into far southwest Texas. A trough.. or line.. of low pressure extends southward from the upper Mississippi Valley and western Great Lakes south southwestward into south central plains with an imbedded upper air disturbance rotating eastward across southern Oklahoma and north 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 westerly 30 to 40 mph.
A weakening cold front.. washing out as it moves southeastward.. is moving into our area with widely scattered to scattered rain showers and thunderstorms expected today into tonight and early Friday. Current forecast guidance suggests that 1/4 to 1/2 inch of rain could occur with the passage of this weak cold front.
It looks dry and summer like for midday and afternoon tomorrow through the weekend and into the middle part of next week as the atmosphere becomes more stable once again.
Tropical cyclone Andrea… currently a tropical storm.. is located over the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. It is moving northeastward and it expected to move into northwest Florida by later today into tonight.. then into Georgia and South Carolina tomorrow into tomorrow night. The system will not have any effect on Texas weather.
Have a good Thursday night and Friday…
Meteorologist Troy Kimmel
Contact me:
tkimmel@austin.utexas.edu
http://www.facebook.com/troykimmel