CORPUS CHRISTI — We had a cold start to the day here in the Coastal Bend as temperatures were nearly 10 degrees below seasonal average for some locations. At Corpus Christi International, we officially dropped to 41 degrees with a wind chill of 39 at 6AM.
High pressure has moved into the Gulf of Mexico, to our east, and that means that our winds have turned more southerly and is giving us return moisture in the lower-levels of the atmosphere. The result is slightly milder temperatures this afternoon and noticeably higher humidity in the area.
For tonight, that higher humidity is going to result in some dense patchy fog over the region. Some locations, especially near the coastline, could drop below 1 mile visibility for several hours. Motorists are urged to use caution on the early morning commute and overnight driving. Be sure to drive with lights on.
There is a push of drier air that will filter in around 8AM, not so much a cold front, just a brief batch of some dry air that will push the fog offshore by about 9-10AM. This brief push of dry air will turn winds northerly for the first half of the day, but by the late afternoon and evening, our southerly winds will return. We'll still see a good amount of sunshine with a high of 75 in Corpus Christi.
We'll warm up even further on Thursday with highs in the low 80s here in the city and mid to upper 80s possible for our inland communities.
A cold front is forecast to move through early Friday morning. Unfortunately, I've take out rain chances as it looks more likely that the front will move through dry. Rain chances stay around the Victoria Crossroads and into East Texas. Either way, the boundary will bring cooler and drier air with clearing skies and a high back in the middle 70s Friday afternoon with a moderately strong northerly wind.
Saturday will begin chilly in the upper 40s with low 70s in the afternoon under lots of sun. Sunday we'll get a southerly wind return and it will warm up and clouds will be on the increase.
Monday will be partly cloudy with a high of 82 before the next strong cold front moves in Monday evening that will knock highs back down into the 50s by Tuesday morning under mainly cloudy skies and a strong northerly wind.
Summary:
Tonight: Patchy dense fog overnight, clear skies and not as cold...Low: 50 Wind: NNW 3-6 MPH
Wednesday: Few more clouds, still mainly sunny and mild...High: 75 Wind: ENE/ESE 5-10 MPH
Thursday: Partly cloudy, much warmer and more humid...High: 81 Wind: SSE 6-12 MPH
Friday: Early morning cold front...drier and cooler with clearing skies...High: 76 Wind: N 10-20 MPH
Saturday: Chilly morning and cool afternoon with sunshine...High: 70 Wind: ENE 5-10 MPH
Sunday: Noticeably warmer and more humid, partly cloudy and breezy...High: 79 Wind: SSE 10-20 MPH
Monday: Partly cloudy, warm and breezy with front arriving late...High: 82 Wind: SSE 10-15 MPH