The coldest temperatures in 14 years are on the way to East Texas

A strong area of arctic will be moving south across the Nation bringing with it some of the coldest air in years. Right now it appears the front will move through early Thursday morning, before sunrise. Along and behind this front we will see scattered showers develop. As the cold air moves in, these showers will change to light snow or flurries Thursday morning. As the arctic air continues to move into the area, flurries will move out and very cold temperatures will move in. Our high temperature on Thursday will occur early in the day before sunrise. By Thursday afternoon most of East Texas will see temperatures in the 20s with wind chills approaching zero at time.

On Friday morning the mercury will bottom out in the middle teens in most areas. It has been many years since temperatures dropped to 15 degrees or below. The last time this occurred in Tyler was on Feb. 4th, 1996. For Longview the last time the temperature dropped to 15 was on Dec. 25th, 1990. And in Lufkin, the last time the temperature was at or below 15 degrees was on Dec. 24th 1989.

So if we do see lows at or below 15 degrees, we will be seeing temperatures that many of us haven’t seen in nearly a generation. But will we set record lows? Our coldest temperatures will be Friday and Saturday morning. The record low for Tyler seems to be safe at 8 degree on the 8th and 10 degrees on the 9th. The record lows for Longview appear safe with both morning record lows being 13 degrees however, it could be close. For Lufkin the record low on the 8th is 15 degrees and on the 9th is 16 degrees. So if any city will set a new record low, Lufkin probably has the best chance.



Incase you were wondering when the last time East Texas has seen temperatures below 10 degrees, all three cities reported temperatures at or below 10 degrees on December 24th 1989, when most areas of East Texas were between 0 and 5 degrees. Although I don’t think we will see temperatures below 10 degrees, if skies are clear and winds are light, someone could get close on Saturday Morning.

Stay Warm!