Active Morning Leading Into A Colder Spell

Severe weather swept across parts of the Brazos Valley this morning with a Tornado Warning even issued for eastern Madison County around 4:50am. Good news is that there was no official sighting of a tornado despite indications on Doppler Radar. The only damaged reported in our viewing area were a few tree limbs that fell in northeastern Brazos County along Osr and Fountain Swiss Road.

A majority of the severe weather was to our southeast. Locations near Houston, Sugar Land, and Rosenburg got hit hard with torrential rainfall, 1.5" sized hail, frequent lightening, gusts to 60mph and even a sighting of a funnel cloud along Grand Parkway near Sugar Land. The following is an image of the radar this afternoon following the most intense storms:

Severe weather that took place in the morning turned more into a flooding event to our southeast. Storms traveled over the same areas for hours allowing rainfall accumulations to reach 4 inches in spots near Houston. When storms move over the same areas time and time again, we call this "training."

A low in the upper levels has provided the necessary energy to generate storms on its eastern flank, but on the back side, air is coming down from the north and northwest. The air is cold enough that snow is flying in West Texas:

Several inches of snow is expected from Midland/Odessa to the Concho Valley this afternoon. We will not see any snow here in the Brazos Valley, but this gives you a good illustration of how powerful this storm is. Additionally, this whole even evolved in a matter of hours from Sunday night to Monday morning. Another indication of its fury with rapid intensification.

Severe weather threat is over for us and showers will be around for the rest of the day and into early tomorrow. Beyond this storm that will depart Tuesday morning, a new cold front will arrive late Wednesday and really change the weather up here.

Recently, cold fronts have not been efficient in delivering the colder air from Canada. However, this one will. Here is a look at temperatures to our northwest this afternoon:

Note the darker blues that are draining down the Rockies and into West Texas. This is the first time in a while that we have seen a plunge of cold air like this. Additionally, when the front arrives, it will drag the air from the Rockies, plus from Canada to lock in the chill. Daytime highs will only reach the low 50s, where overnight lows by the end of the week will touch the mid to upper 20s.

All in all, it was a great sight to see rain, but the flooding around Houston was not the best. I will keep you updated here, on facebook: www.facebook.com/KAGSweather and on Twitter: @KAGSweather.