CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Our dry, windy and very warm weather pattern for South Texas continues to march forward.
We’ll have a few more clouds in the area today, but those winds will continue to be on the very gusty side out of the south-southeast today and along with the very dry vegetation and warm temperatures, we are going to have a high fire danger day in the Coastal Bend. Fire Weather Watches, Wind Advisories and Small Craft Advisories are all posted for the next 24-36 hours.
Wind direction, especially when talking about fire weather in our area is very important. From the southeast, or even east-southeast, that is from the direction of the Gulf, so we get some low-level moisture that helps fire danger from going too high. Even then, when winds are gusty and the grass is very dry, it won’t take much for a fire to get quickly out of control.
The wind direction shifts tomorrow with the arrival of a Pacific cold front. Our winds will shift from the west-northwest, off the land, and it will usher in some very dry air and that is going to cap out and top off the fire danger here to extreme levels. All residents are urged in the highest manner to limit outdoor activity with sparks and flames and to do their parts to help keep wildfires from breaking out.
Wednesday will be the highest and most dangerous fire day in the Coastal Bend in quite some time.
Unfortunately, with the front, we will only have very small rain chances and we’ll only see a few stray sprinkles for our northern counties.
The dry air in the afternoon will aid to promote heat, not to cool us down, and highs will shoot in the low to mid 90s for much of the area.
Cooler air will eventually catch up, but it will only cool us down into the low to mid-80s for the end of the week. As we head into the weekend, the heat will go back up along with the humidity.
Fire danger will continue to be a problem until we get some meaningful rain in South Texas; and that looks to stay very limited over the next couple of weeks.
Today: Partly cloudy, very warm and windy with high fire danger; Wind Advisories, Small Craft Advisories and Fire Weather Watches all posted…High: 86…Wind: SSE 20-35 & gusting.
Tonight: Staying windy and muggy with partly cloudy skies…Wind: SSE 15-30 MPH & gusting.
Wednesday: Early morning Pacific cold front arrives with only a few stray showers, still very hot and dry and EXTREME FIRE DANGER with lots of gusty winds…High: 92…Wind: WNW 15-25 MPH & gusting.
Thursday: Partly cloudy and very warm with a little less wind…High: 85…Wind: ENE 10-20 MPH.
Friday: Partly cloudy and more wind with high fire danger…High: 82…Wind: ESE 15-25 MPH & gusting.
Weekend Outlook: Warming temperatures, partly cloudy with windy and warm conditions with high fire danger…Highs: mid-80s.
Have a great day!