The disturbance that has dropped rain on the ArkLaTex is now moving out and is taking the rain with it. Now we wait for the arrival of a strong arctic front that will bring a quick and large drop in temperatures Thursday afternoon and evening.
A slight warm-up ahead of the front: Over the next few days as the cold air heads this way we will see slightly warmer daytime temperatures. Thanks to some breaks in the clouds Tuesday night, it will be a little colder. Lows will likely dip into the low to middle 30s. We will see a mix of clouds and a little sunshine Wednesday that will allow temperatures to warm into the upper 40s to lower 50s. Lows Wednesday night will not be as cold as we will settle into the lower 40s. Highs ahead of the front Thursday will likely warm into the low to middle 50s ahead of the front. Once the front moves through your location, you will likely see a more than 20-degree drop in temperature in just a few hours. That is just the beginning.
A little rain but not much snow: Futurecast shows that we will see some breaks in the clouds over the ArkLaTex Tuesday night. Wednesday will bring plenty of clouds with a little sunshine mixed in. We will become mostly cloudy Wednesday night into Thursday as the wind increases out of the south and southwest ahead of the front. Once the front moves through the wind will shift to the northwest and increase. We could see a few scattered showers near the front, but it appears that the rain will end before we get cold enough to change it to winter precipitation. The clouds will quickly move out Thursday evening.
Just how cold will we get? By Friday morning temperatures will likely range from around 5 degrees over the northern edge of the area to the low to middle teens over the southern half of the area. If you factor in the strong north-to-northwesterly wind, wind chills will likely be below zero. Highs Friday will likely stay below freezing despite the return of some sunshine. It will probably not be as cold Friday night, but temperatures will still dip well into the teens over most of the area. Highs Saturday should return to the middle 30s. This means that we could see 36 to 48 hours where temperatures stay below freezing.
A big warming trend next week? Fortunately, it doesn’t appear as if the extreme winter temperatures will stick around too long. The warming trend that will begin Saturday will continue through next week. Highs will return to the low 40s by Christmas day, and the low 50s by Tuesday. We could see highs back up close to 70 degrees by the end of next week. Lows will likely stay in the 20s through Monday but should warm to the 50s. Most of next week is looking dry with a slight chance of rain returning by Thursday and Friday.
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