Warmer but Storms and Rain on the Way
Just like Friday afternoon, Saturday afternoon served up some fine winter weather for north Texas. After about a week of clouds and rain it's been nice to get a couple of days of sunshine. Highs this afternoon topped off in the upper 50's in most places with high clouds and very little wind.
Tonight clouds will build back in as winds turn to the south overnight. Lows will stay well above freezing, dropping to around 40 degrees in the urban areas. Sunday will be a cloudy day for the most part but warmer, highs will get into the low 60's by afternoon with a slight breeze from the south. It'll be dry all day.
STORMS ON THE WAY
Most of Monday looks dry. After a very warm start (around 50 degrees, warmer than the highs the very next day) we should get into the low 60's despite the clouds. It is going to be windy, gusts close to 30mph as rain arrives from the west by nightfall. We are expecting some storms and heavy rain, the worst of it should hit the metro area during the evening hours. Below you can see the Storm Prediction Center predicts a 5% chance of damaging winds and large hail. The HPC shows near an inch of rain, yet another December rain event to dappen the worst of the drought conditions.
COLD WEATHER FOLLOWS
Looks like the countdown to Christmas is going to be nippy. We'll have clouds, strong winds and cold temperatures on Tuesday, highs will stay in the 40's all day. Wednesday it'll be mostly sunny but only in the low 50's, Thursday will be mostly cloudy, breezy and in the low 50's yet again. Those clouds are from a cold front moving through, this shot of cold air keeps highs in the 40's on Friday and in the low 50's on Saturday (Christmas Eve Day). Not looking like much of a chance of a White Christmas this year!
This is supposed to be a warmer and drier winter thanks to La Nina. This has not been the case for December as we'll close the month with above-normal rainfall. The pattern looks like it is shifting to more of what we had predicted for the winter. The Climate Prediction Center puts more than a 40-50% chance we enjoy warmer-than-normal temperatures to close the year. This happens just in time, if the current weather pattern would have held (or returns) in Jan. or Feb. when its about 5-10 degrees colder we would be getting snow/ice events about every four days!
