First Freeze of The Season For Some

We knew that one of these days, there was going to be a cold front that meant business. Quite a difference ahead, and behind the latest boundary. A plume of 80s spread all across central and southeast Texas yesterday, but today was a whole different story. Truly a deep polar air mass carved itself out though a majority of the country including here, in the Brazos Valley.

Highs this afternoon have only managed to reach the low 60s. In comparison, our average high this time of the year is around 73°. Despite temperatures being below average this afternoon, the bigger story will be the low temperatures overnight. Just like a game of limbo....the question is....how low will the temperatures go?

In the wake of our latest cold front, not only has high pressure moved in, but much drier air. It so happens to be that dry air will be a key ingredient in the temperature forecast tonight.

Take a look at the following image which displays the dew points:

We tend to use this number a lot in the summertime to show you how humid it is, but on a night like tonight meteorologists use it differently.

Tonight we will have "radiational cooling". In other words, conditions will be ripe for afternoon solar radiation to escape into space and allow the temperature to drop. For ideal radiational cooling you need three ingredients:

1) Clear Sky

2) Light Wind

3) Dry Air

We will have all three tonight, however the dew point temperature tells the tail that this is as low as the air temperature can go. I will tell you off the bat that it will not be 17° tomorrow morning in Dallas because this is not a mid-winter air mass. However it will get quite cold. Additionally, this is as low as the temperature can go because if the air temperature cools to the dew point temperature, then condensation will occur (cloud or fog development). Condensation is a warming process and the temperature will begin to go up.

Nonetheless, expect low readings tomorrow morning with some areas, especially for Milam, Robertson and Leon counties to dip just below 32° for a time. And yes, there will be a few spots that hit the upper 20s too!

 

Because of this first threat for freezing temperatures, the National Weather Service has issued a Freeze Warning for our northern counties from 3am to 9am Tuesday morning.

 

 

 

Due to the fact that we will be entering the colder months, its a good idea to take care of a few chores around the house to keep you warm and safe.

 

1) Make sure to wrap your pipes with insulation so they don't burst.

 

2) Seal off your windows and use weather stripping to keep the cold air from seeping in.

 

3) Cover plants that are sensitive to cold weather.

 

4) Keep the pets indoors. If we don't like the cold, they don't like the cold either.

 

Finally, on average, freezes occur in this part of the country from November 28th to March 2nd. 





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