A Conditional Severe Weather Threat Today

Today we will be watching StormTracker Live Doppler Network very closely as we a conditional threat of severe weather. What does that mean? Moisture is moving back across East Texas today on strong southerly winds, gusting as high as 30 mph at times. This will also help boost our temperatures this afternoon to around 80 degrees again today. Later this afternoon an area of low pressure will move across Oklahoma dragging a dryline, or trough of low pressure separating moist tropical air from warm dry air, into East Texas. It is along this dryline that a few isolated thunderstorms could develop. There will also be a layer of very warm air just above the surface this afternoon acting like a lid on thunderstorms development. As the warm air rises from the surface, it will hit this layer and be forced back towards the surface making thunderstorm development tough. The atmosphere is set up so that any storm that can develop could rapidly become severe with the main threat being large hail and strong winds. So where is the main threat of severe weather today and when can we expect it to occur. The atmosphere it most conducive for severe weather across our northeastern counties from Mount Pleasant to Longview to Carthage. It is in this area where thunderstorms will have the best chance of sustaining updrafts leading to large hail and strong gusty winds. However, all areas of East Texas will see large amounts of energy and instability so any storm that can develop could likely be severe. So everyone needs to be on guard during the afternoon hours. The most likely timeline for thunderstorm development is between 4 and 10 PM. You can track storms yourself on our web site on the weather page at KLTV.com and click on the interactive radar link. So for most, partly cloudy and breezy conditions will prevail. But for those who are unfortunate enough to be in an area where a storm can develop, things could get a bit rough. Stay tuned to KLTV and KLTV.com for the latest.

Freezing Warning Tonight.

The calendar my say April but the forecast is going to be more like late January or early February for the next 24 hours. Temperatures with a brisk northwest wind will struggle to reach the upper 50s later this afternoon with mostly sunny skies. Tonight the winds will diminish allowing temperatures to drop across East Texas. Record low temperatures for tomorrow are 34°F for Tyler, 32°F for Longview, and 31°F for Lufkin. It looks as though these record lows are in jeopardy and will fall as temperatures will bottom out into the upper 20s and low 30s across East Texas as we wake up Tuesday morning. The all time record lows for April are 27°F in Tyler, 20°F in Longview, and 30°F in Lufkin. I think most of the all time record lows are safe however the 30°F for Lufkin could be tied or broken tomorrow morning. The cold blast will not last long as we see temperatures reach near normal readings by the middle part of this week. Remember to protect those sensitive plants you may have outside and don’t forget about your pets. Temperatures could be below freezing for a period of 4 to 6 hours in our normally cooler locations over night. Because of this a freeze warning has been issued for most of East Texas from Midnight tonight until 9AM tomorrow.