Spring is less than 2 weeks away, and it’s pretty obvious when you look around Central Texas. Grass is growing along our highways and across our parks, trees are blooming, and there have already been a few Bluebonnet sightings! Even though we haven’t officially started Spring yet, get ready for a blast of Spring-like weather both Friday and Saturday!
Thursday’s high temperatures rose into the upper 60s and low 70s, which is near normal for this time of year. Expect Friday’s highs to be at least a few degrees warmer, with most of us forecast to reach the 70s. Saturday will be noticeably warmer though, with projected highs in the upper 70s and 80s. Some of our forecast models even have our western counties pushing 90 (which is tough to believe, but tells you how warm it could get)! Bottom line: get ready to use the AC’s this weekend.
There’s actually a pretty simple explanation as to why our temperatures will soar on Saturday. Winds will be coming out of the southwest, and eventually out of the west. When we experience winds from that direction, they move from the higher terrain to lower terrain (also known as downslope winds). Air that moves downslope warms up due to compressional heating. The opposite actually occurs when air moves upslope (cooling due to expansion).
It’s also worth mentioning that isolated showers and storms will be possible between late Friday and Saturday. This probably won’t be a widespread rain event, but something to think about if you have outdoor plans. A cold front will move through between late Saturday and Sunday, bringing highs back into the 60s. Lows are expected to fall into the 40s and 30s Sunday & Monday night. Even though there's still a handful of days left in Winter, anything can happen during this time of year!
Keep your First Alert Central Texas weather apps handy! You’ll be able to track temperatures from your smart phones and any precipitation in the region.
Copyright 2018 KXXV. All rights reserved.
