AUSTIN (KXAN) — An arctic cold front is powering through Central Texas with temperatures continuing to drop in the Hill Country and Austin Metro with our front now moving through our eastern counties.
As the front arrives the winds will shift and become strong with gusts up to 40 mph possible. Some localized (non-grid related) power outages will be possible with the wind this evening and overnight.
A Wind Advisory has been issued for parts of the Austin Metro and our eastern counties beginning at midnight and continuing through noon Wednesday.
As the wind blows in frigid air the temperatures will drop quickly. Some may see temperatures drop from the 60s into the 40s within an hour or two.
Drizzle and spotty showers should wrap up within a couple of hours of the passage of the cold front, but any lingering standing water may freeze if sheltered from these drying winds.
We expect temperatures will drop to freezing by midnight in Austin with lows heading for the mid 20s at daybreak on Wednesday.
Wind chills (feels-like temperatures) will be down in the teens and single digits overnight into Wednesday morning.
An Extreme Cold Warning begins at midnight for the Hill Country where the wind chill temperatures will be coldest.
For the majority of the rest of the area we’ll have a Cold Weather Advisory from midnight tonight through noon on Wednesday.
Wednesday’s weather will be cold and windy with morning clouds slowly giving way to afternoon sun. Air temperatures should reach the mid to upper 30s, even though it will feel like it’s below freezing all day with the wind.
Wednesday night-Thursday
Wednesday night will see our coldest air temperatures and wind chill readings of this week and (possibly) this winter. Air temperatures will drop down to the low 20s and mid-teens by Thursday morning.
Ongoing breezy conditions will make it feel like it’s between 0 and 15º in most areas.
An Extreme Cold Warning has been issued for most of the area for Thursday morning.
Thursday’s weather looks sunny and breezy with highs in the upper 30s.
Clouds roll back in for Friday with low rain chances. We’ll have to watch temperatures closely on the low chance some brief and light wintry precipitation mixes with the rain.
A major warm-up develops this weekend with 60s by Sunday and upper 70s next week.
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