Not Feeling Like Christmas, More Like Easter...

Following a cold week, we are beginning to see the mercury in the thermometer rise again. Additionally, the amount of moisture in the atmosphere is going up. This combo spells out our pattern for the week, warmer, and showery. It will not rain the entire week, but quick hitting light showers will pop up from time to time.

Here is the overall pattern:

There are two major features here, a large high pressure cell dominating the eastern US and a broad body of low pressure in the southwest. Note that air around high pressure flows clockwise, while the opposite is true for low pressure. Smack in the middle of these two large scale systems (or "synoptic" in meteorology terms) is the Lone Star State.

Here is a zoomed in perspective of Texas and the Brazos Valley:

From the direction of the wind at the surface, its simple to define our pattern. Not only are we adding moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, but there is a flow coming from the Pacific Ocean as well. Therefore, we have two sources of moisture keeping the clouds around and the isolated showers. In addition, with a southerly component to the wind, the air will warm. However, the big question is, how efficiently will the air warm?

Since there will be a fair amount of clouds over head, the temperature will not be able to jump as high as it could. At the moment, our forecast is calling for temperatures in the low 70s Tuesday, and mid to upper 70s Wednesday. However, if the clouds break up for a time either of these two days, the air molecules will have extra energy and temperatures will rise.

It is not out of the realm of possibilities that we could make a run at 80 degrees on Wednesday, but we would need the sun.

As far as the rain scenario, expect an isolated shower or two, but the best chance of rain comes late Wednesday night and into Thursday. The low over California will make a move north of us and drag a weak cold front behind it and heightening our ran chances.

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