March: Comfortable Weekend Weather & Warming Trend

[Kingwood31]

The 21Z SPC SREF continues to advertise freezing rain/sleet and possibly a snow flurry or two overnight before the precip ends. It is also noteworthy the the SREF is suggesting an expanded area freezing rain across all of Central Texas and Northern areas of SE Texas overnight tomorrow night into early Tuesday. Each run has expanded the aeral coverage of the potential event for tomorrow night. We will see if that trend continues.

Would be cool to see it one last time before 99 degree heat with 100% humidity drains the life out of us and we prolly won't see another winter like this and chances for winter fun for atleast a cpl yrs

[nuby3]

33 degrees here dewpoint 32

[srainhoutx]

Down to 32F in NW Harris County.

[nuby3]

Down to 32F in NW Harris County.

THIS IS NUTS!!!

[srainhoutx]

Update from Jeff:

Impressive arctic cold front has crossed the area this afternoon switching from spring to winter in about 30 minutes.

Strong arctic air mass is pouring into the region with 700pm temperatures ranging from 28 at College Station to a balmy 69 at Galveston….even better is the 7 at Amarillo and 75 at Brownsville. Freezing line has quickly advanced southward this evening and is currently along a  line from Columbus to Brenham to Huntsville. Winds continue to howl in the 25-35mph range as the pressure gradient remains strong over the area forcing wind chill readings into the 20’s and 10’s across the area currently. Lift associated with the departing upper level trough is starting to move eastward out of the region and expect only brief light rain/drizzle for the next few hours prior to all precipitation ending by 1100pm. Winds at both Caldwell and Crockett are reporting calm winds indicating the annomometer has glazed over from freezing rain and this has been confirmed by law enforcement reports of ice on elevated surfaces in Brazos and Madison counties. While pavement is still warm from the recent warmth think surface temperatures north of HWY 105 are right at the cusp of forming ice on wet bridges and overpasses….however TXDOT is not reporting any ice on bridges and overpasses in SE TX at the moment. Luckily addition rainfall will be extremely light and the main threat will be from water freezing on elevated roadways as the pavement cools overnight.
 
Other item is the issuance of a wind chill advisory for the following counties until 800am: Brazos, Burleson, Washington, Grimes, Walker, Trinity, Madison, and Houston.

Winds of 20-30mph overnight with temperatures in the 26-28 degree range will produce wind chill values of 10-15 degrees over these counties.

[Kingwood31]

Down to 37 in kingwood

[srainhoutx]

Light freezing drizzle has started in NW Harris County on elevated metal surfaces. My grill and patio furniture has a thin coating of ice forming. That makes 7 Winter Weather events for SE Texas this winter.

[Ptarmigan]

Light freezing drizzle has started in NW Harris County on elevated metal surfaces. My grill and patio furniture has a thin coating of ice forming. That makes 7 Winter Weather events for SE Texas this winter.

Freezing rain already and it is March. Not unheard of in the past.

[srainhoutx]

HGX issues Hard Freeze Warning for Counties N of Harris County. Jason, I feel that Harris County probably should have been included. Good luck with your plants...sigh. Also just had some sleet here at the house.

[davidiowx]

Weather Alert for Harris County, TX


! Special Statement !
Issued at: 9:37 PM CST on March 2, 2014, expires at: 12:45 AM CST on March 03,
2014

The tail end of scattered precipitation will be pushing eastward
across the region in the next couple hours. This precipitation
will mainly be in the form of light rain although some sleet
pellets might be mixed within. Temperatures have fallen near or
slightly below freezing at some locations.
Warm temperatures the past couple days will likely keep any
precipitation from accumulating on the ground...especially
considering the short duration of precipitation. A light glaze may
occur on car tops...lawn furniture and things like that where
freezing temperatures are occurring.
All that being said...it is still a good idea to pay extra
attention if traveling on bridges and overpasses in these
situations. Breezy winds should aid the drying process overnight.
Any lingering or standing puddles may freeze as temperatures
fall.

[Paul Robison]

ERCOT just called another conservation alert because of the cold, folks. Not that I'm worried, but: do we have THAT little energy in Texas?

[srainhoutx]

Another Update from Jeff:

Hard Freeze Warning issued north of a line from Columbus to Conroe to Livingston for tonight.

Temperatures continue to tumble across the region and guidance has been of little use with this invading arctic air mass. Freezing line at 900pm extends from Columbus to Katy to The Woodlands to Livingston and continues to progress southward. Scattered showers continue to develop within the cold air mass resulting in freezing rain over Waller and Montgomery Counties. Should see all precipitation end within the next 1-2 hours and do not expect any significant ice accumulation as very gusty north winds are quickly drying what falls and roadway temperatures remain very warm. TXDOT continues to report no ice formation on bridges and overpasses across SE TX at this time even with surface temperatures in the 27-29 range north of HWY 105 and this is likely from the very warm temperatures yesterday and today which the roadways are holding some of that warmt.

As for temperatures…upstream readings are extremely cold for early March ranging from the 10’s to 1’s over NW TX and OK. This air mass continues to push southward ahead of the arctic high over the Dakotas. Many locations across SE TX are already near forecasted overnight lows and expect another 2-4 degrees of cooling from cold air advection processes pushing areas under the Hard Freeze Warning into the 20’s for 3-5 hours tonight. Damage to sensitive vegetation and vegetation in bloom is likely with surface temperatures in the 20’s.

Next concern is the potential for a winter mix of precipitation Monday night into Tuesday morning across portions of SE TX as another disturbance moves across and the cold arctic dome which is colder than expected remains locked in place. Will have to take a close look at the incoming 00Z guidance product early Monday to attempt to define where this threat may exist across the area.

[niner21]

I know it's fun time with the ice and all but can anyone tell me a gut feeling about precip on saturday in college station? Got outdoor plans all day and hoping for it to be dry... weather sites are all over the board.

[srainhoutx]

Niner21, I think many of us are concerned about what may or may not happen next weekend. The first issue I see is a strong Coastal Low developing tomorrow night near Matagorda Bay and slowly heading E across the Northern Gulf Coast on Wednesday. There are some indications that there is a potential for heavy rains and very gusty winds as that system wraps up and heads towards the Coastal waters S of New Orleans and Mobile. Some of the guidance is suggesting winds as strong as 50kts could develop across the Northern Gulf Coast as it heads ENE. The Euro and some of the GEFS ensemble members are suggesting a very potent cold core upper air disturbance dropping ESE from the 4 Corners Region into Texas next Saturday. We will just have to monitor that system day by day since the forecast for this entire week is rather volatile. Stay Tuned.

[Paul Robison]

Do I need to buy gasoline for my standby generator? Advice on this heartily welcomed from anyone.

[texoz]

26 degrees at midnight in central/north Austin. Will probably get down to 23 or lower. Was not expecting to have one of the coldest nights of winter tonight.

[Belmer]

As of just shortly after 3am, it looks like Houston has officially hit 32 degrees (and still dropping). Time for wxman57 to talk about how much he loves winter!

Edit to add: as of 3:20am, NOAA website has Bush IAH at 29 degrees currently.

[srainhoutx]

Water vapor imagery and the SPC as well as the WPC Winter Weather Outlook updated early this morning show a potent Southern stream short wave with elevated storm chances with sub freezing surface temperature in place across Central and SE Texas suggesting freezing rain and sleet during the early morning hours of Tuesday may meet Winter Storm Warning/Winter Weather Advisory criteria across the Hill Country including the Austin Metro Area and extending E into the Houston Metro Area.

[djjordan]

That would not surprise me at all. I've been out in this cold overnight and it is bone chilling cold. My truck had ice on it from freezing drizzle as I was driving through Montgomery County last night. Thankfully the roads weren't bad as they had not cooled to below freezing. As a matter of fact some areas were
"steaming" due to the quick drop in temps. It was quite the site and quite the front as I started the day in shorts and a T-shirt and ended up in jeans and a sweatshirt and then eventually a jacket too.

[srainhoutx]

NWS San Antonio/Austin issues Winter Storm Warning for locations from Burnett to Austin to La Grange for freezing rain and thundersleet and a Winter Weather Advisory SW to San Antonio along I-10. HGX will likely issue a Winter Weather Advisory later this morning with the potential for upgrading to a Winter Storm Warning including Harris County as those same conditions may be possible across SE Texas early tomorrow morning. The main concern is the elevated storms being suggested by the overnight guidance and increased precip rates if sub freezing temps are indeed met in Metro Houston. Stay Tuned for updates later this morning.