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Mid-week arctic blast expected for North Texas
Jupiter Images Unlimited
By Kim Nguyen, Staff Writer
Just as North Texans were getting used to temperatures in the 40s and 50s, an arctic front will be making its way into the area today, resulting in some of the coldest temperatures in recent memory.
A strong arctic cold front will push across the Red River valley and into North Texas late Wednesday evening with the coldest air of the season. Much of the area will remain below freezing from late Wednesday through midday Saturday. The very cold arctic air will result in chill values of 3 to 22 degrees early Thursday morning, minus 1 to 7 degrees Friday morning, and 3 to 18 degrees Saturday morning, according to the special weather statement released by the National Weather Service office in Forth Worth.
NWS records show the last time the North Texas area saw below-freezing temperatures was in January 2007.
Wind chill values are expected to fall into the single digits or lower Thursday and continue into the weekend.
Thursday will be partly sunny and cold, with a high near 29 degrees, and very windy. Winds could top 25 mph with gusts possibly as high as 30 mph. Temperatures will drop after sunset, possibly as low as 16 degrees Thursday night, Martello said.
Friday will be sunny, but it is not expected to be warmer than about 30 degrees.
Saturday will warm slightly to a high near 39 degrees under sunny skies. Sunday also will be sunny, but about 10 degrees warmer.
“Thursday through Saturday is when we’ll see the most frigid temperatures,” Martello said. “Arctic air is very dense. Even with sunny skies, the dense air does not warm up too much. So it will take a while for the cold, dense air to modify out.”
Martello said there is some precipitation forecast for Wednesday night, but it will arrive before the arctic front enters the area.
“The precipitation looks like it will fall as rain before the arctic air moves in,” he said. “But there is a possibility that it will briefly change to freezing drizzle or snow flurries. No accumulation of winter precipitation is expected, but we’ll be keeping an eye on it.”
Commuters may encounter slick spots on area roads if roadways remain wet as the arctic air moves through. And daytime temperatures might be cold enough to keep them slick, Martello said.
Before the front arrives, North Texans are encouraged to take all necessary precautions in protecting their homes from the extreme cold.
The weather service expects an “extended period of freezing,” also called a “hard freeze,” which can break exposed pipes and kill sensitive plants.
“Obviously, vegetation needs to be covered or taken indoors if possible,” Martello said. “Outdoor pets should also be properly protected from the cold, and perhaps let indoors during the nighttime hours when the temperatures are expected to be the harshest. Any bare pipes or plumbing on the outside of houses needs to be covered or insulated, and sprinkler systems definitely need to be turned off. A smart thing to do is have an indoor faucet turned on to drip overnight, the slow stream of water going through the pipes will help prevent freezing.”
Students traveling to and from school need to bundle up Thursday and Friday, Martello said.
The NWS Special Weather Statement applies to Anderson, Bell, Bosque Hill, Collin, Comanche, Cook, Coryell, Dallas, Delta, Denton, Eastland, Ellis, Erath, Falls, Fannin, Freestone, Grayson, Hamilton, Henderson, Hood, Hopkins, Hunt, Jack, Johnson, Kaufman, Lamar, Lampasas, Leon, Limestone, McLennan, Milam, Mills, Montague, Navarro, Palo Pinto, Parker, Rains, Robertson, Rockwall, Somervell, Stephens, Tarrant, Van Zandt, Wise and Young counties.
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