Warm Ending To Our 2011 Story

Not the greatest weather outdoors this holiday weekend, but with Rudolph's bright red nose, Santa was able to see though the clouds and rain in Texas. Messy weather was being created by a very slow moving upper level low that sat over the panhandle. It was cold enough behind this low that locations from Lubbock to the Concho Valley received a white Christmas.

Now we are seeing the final stages of this system with clouds in north Texas before pulling away. High pressure and a change in the orientation of the Jet Stream will help us bring out the sunshine and raise temperatures big time compared to this weekend.

Take a look at the Jet Stream set up this past weekend:

Notice how the Jet Stream takes a large dip into the Plains and The Lone Star State. Because of this, the doors were opened up to cooler air spilling in and keeping temperatures below average. Additionally, when the Jet Stream dips like this, weather systems tend to move slowly. However, if the jet was flat and moving from west to east, this storm would have move along pretty quick. Due to this orientation of the jet, our storm decided to take an extended stay.

At the moment, the jet is beginning to flatten out and move northward. Due to this "flattening" our latest storm is moving to the east fairly quick, plus drier air is moving in.

Here is how the jet will look over the next few days and into the weekend:

A warmer flow of air will enter Texas, plus with high pressure around, the sun will be out for a while. Yes, it it very possible that we could see some 70s around here by the time the week is out. More importantly, with the jet so far north, this will keep the Brazos Valley in a fairly quiet pattern. Typically, the Jet Stream is a highway for storms and even weak weather systems to move though. And with this kind of orientation to the jet, there will be no large, organized storms in our near future. Enjoy the warmth as we conclude 2011.