Rain to start the week & dangerously cold Arctic air Thursday thru Christmas

Yet again, I am hoping you prepare now, or at least very soon, for a dangerously frigid Arctic air mass that will blast into the Arklatex by Thursday.

As we look at your Monday, temperatures will definitely be below normal. By Monday night into Tuesday, an area of low pressure will move northward along the Texas coast. At the same time, an upper-level trough will exit the southern Rockies and move our way dragging a cold front into and through the ArkLaTex. The combination of these two systems will combine to bring a hefty round of rain along with a few rumbles, especially in the southern 2/3 of the ArkLaTex. It should move out of our area by mid-day Wednesday. However, clouds will hang on. Below-normal temperatures will be found through Wednesday, the first day of Winter. Morning low temperatures Wednesday will be in the 30s with high struggling to make it to 50°. Then, you need to get ready for a frigid arctic air mass to blast into the Arklatex Thursday. Daytime high temperatures will occur early in the morning with temperatures falling into the 20s in the Northwestern ArkLaTex to 30s in the Southeastern ArkLaTex.

We should be seeing rain along and behind the cold front. However, with the plunge in temperatures behind that front, snow may develop. There is an outside chance of snow accumulation for much of the area. It is too early in the game to predict an amount of accumulation.

Another dangerous result of this Arctic blast will be the gusty northwest winds and very dangerous wind chills. In addition, we will definitely have a hard freeze. Morning low temperatures on Friday will be either side of 10°. Afternoon high temperatures will be in the 20s. Morning lows Saturday will be in the teens with highs rising into the 30s. Wind chill values will be from near 0° to five below 0° Thursday night into Friday. Overnight Friday into Saturday morning wind chill values will be around 10°.

Christmas day will be mostly sunny with lows in the 20s and afternoon highs near 40°. The following week will amazingly return to a spring-like regime with lows in the 40s and 50s and highs in the mid to upper 60s by late week. Mother Nature is either fickle or just plain old mean…LOL. By the way, Merry Christmas from my home to you and yours. I will see you again on Christmas Day.