CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The warming temperatures and increasing wind will be the main weather story over the next couple of days as we wait for the next cold front to arrive late Wednesday evening and make it feel a bit more like the holiday season...and winter in general.
We can expect almost a carbon copy of what we observed yesterday with a high right around 77 degrees this afternoon in Corpus Christi. The only big change will be in the form of the wind. Look for highs wind speeds around 10-20 MPH out of the southeast. Boaters, mariners and those heading out to do some fishing are encouraged to use caution on the waters.
Tonight will be partly cloudy, calm and humid with another round of some patchy fog possible and only an overnight low of 61. So not quite as cool as this morning or previous mornings.
A strong cold front will push afternoon high temperatures on Wednesday into the low to mid-80s over a good portion of South Texas, a direct result of compressional heating. Once the front barrels through in the late afternoon/evening hours, the winds will be howling out of the north around 20-30MPH and gusting and we'll see a stark temperature drop back into the low 40s by Christmas Eve morning. Unfortunately, only a few showers will be possible ahead of the front before it pushes all the activity off into the Gulf.
Winds look now to relax somewhat on Thursday afternoon with mainly sunny skies and a high only in the upper 50s to low 60s.
Christmas morning we'll drop right around freezing here in Corpus Christi. Inland parts of the area will see those temperatures drop below freezing for a few hours so be sure to cover sensitive vegetation, provide some warmth for the outdoor pets and cover exposed pipes for protection.
Christmas afternoon looks great as well with mainly sunny skies and cool highs in the middle 60s with light winds.
On into the weekend, we'll warm back up into the mid to upper 70s with a few showers possible on Saturday with more wind coming off the Gulf. Though, most of us stay dry.
Next weak front moves in late Sunday into Monday.
Have a great day.