Another cold snap is expected across the Lone Star State starting this weekend and into the early part of next week.
“Hazardous cold” is the term some meteorologists are using right now, and that’s before counting the prospect for precipitation come the start of next week in some places. If you haven’t yet, it’s time to make preparations for cold conditions.
Allison Prater, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Fort Worth, said some parts of the state could see temperatures dropping as early as Friday afternoon.
“The cold front will move through today, into tomorrow,” she said. “We’re not expecting the cold push into North Texas really until late Saturday. That’s what we’re really going to get that burst of cold air when we go down into the lower 20s.”
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Different parts of the state will have different highs and lows, but most Texans will see below-freezing temps, Prater said.
“Everywhere in Texas is going to be colder than what it is today,” she said. “With that burst of Arctic air for North and Central Texas, we are going to see lows in the teens and 20s starting on Sunday morning and then highs in mainly the 30s starting on Sunday, going into almost next Wednesday.
“What’s really concerning are the wind chills. The wind chills Sunday and Wednesday are going to be in the teens and single digits across North and Central Texas. And that’s where we get that hazardous cold. And that’s where we’re telling people to bundle up and to make sure that you are prepared to face that in the mornings.”
Snow could start as early as Saturday in the Panhandle, but for the middle part of the state it probably won’t snow until Monday or Tuesday, if at all.
“We’re looking at around maybe a half inch of snow accumulations across our Central Texas counties with very light to no accumulations further up north towards the I-20 corridor,” Prater said. “Looking more towards South Texas, they’re expecting more of a wintry mix, which could mean freezing rain, sleet and snow. And they may have different accumulations and higher accumulations further south.”
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Despite the expected snow, Prater said conditions are not forecast to be as bad as during Winter Storm Uri in February 2021.
“We won’t get as cold as February 2021, and we won’t have as much frozen precipitation as February 2021,” she said. “We are looking at a warm-up as we go into the later portions of next week. Looks like by Thursday we’ll be back in the 50s, 40s and 50s in North and Central Texas.”
In the meantime, high winds in dry parts of West Texas and the Panhandle present a fire risk, Prater said.
“Up north in the Panhandle, they are usually drier and there are higher wind gusts,” she said. “We are above normal temperatures today. That could cause some higher potential for fire threat.”
