The week began with what will probably end up being our last experience with freezing temperatures. Warmer air will quickly return and allow the chance of strong to severe storms to return Thursday night and Friday. The warm air will stick around next week.
Warmer air to return: We have experienced some rather chilly temperatures during the past few days. Lows Monday morning dipped into the 20s and low 30s over most of the ArkLaTex. Warmer air will quickly return to our area in the coming days. Temperatures Tuesday morning will not be as chilly as we will see lows in the middle 40s. Highs Tuesday afternoon will range from the middle 60s over the northern half of the area to the upper 60s and low 70s over the south half. The warming trend will continue Wednesday and Thursday with highs soaring into the low to middle 80s by Thursday.
Say goodbye to the sunshine: Futurecast shows that as the warm air replaces the rather chilly air, clouds will increase over the area Monday night. Those clouds will stick around Tuesday with a few showers possible over a small part of our area mainly north of Interstate 30s. Tuesday night and Wednesday should be mostly cloudy and dry. We could see some sunshine mix in with the clouds Wednesday afternoon. Our next disturbance will approach the area late Thursday and Thursday night and bring some showers and thunderstorms that will enter the northwest half of the area Thursday night and move through the area late Thursday night into Friday. As of right now, it appears that the timing of the storms could limit our severe weather threat for much of the area. Based on the current expected timing of the storms, the chance of severe weather will be highest Friday morning and early afternoon over the SE half of the area. The Storm Prediction Center currently has a level 2 slight risk for the SE third of the ArkLaTex. All severe weather threats will be possible if the storms can strengthen enough before moving out of our area.
Rainfall potential: Most of the ArkLaTex will see near or slightly above-normal rainfall from now through the end of next week. It appears that most of the rain in the coming ten days will be Thursday night and Friday when most of the area receives one to two inches. Ten-day totals could exceed two inches with more rain expected late this weekend and again by the middle of next week.
Warm air to stick around: Don’t expect the return of the cold temperatures anytime soon. Highs will likely return to the 70s Friday and stay there through most of next week. Overnight lows this weekend and next week will mainly be in the 50s.
