Be prepared for the forecast to get “flipped, turned up-side-down” in the next few days, folks, the 80s are not here to stay in Amarillo.
In fact, the 70s are going away, too. So are the 60s, 50s and perhaps even the 40s.
In other words: Buckle up.
Okay, so that might be an exaggeration – but the forecast is going to be cooling down quite drastically.
Temperatures today managed the upper 70s and low 80s for most of the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles. But a series of disturbances, a beefy cold front and a thin layer of cold air are going to make it feel like January 2nd and not April 2nd on Tuesday.
Quick Breakdown
A strong cold front will back across the high plains on Monday afternoon and cut temperatures – nearly – in half. The thermometer will be spread out like a bedsheet fort on Monday. Forecast high for Beaver, Oklahoma is 39 degrees. Meanwhile, in Portales, New Mexico, an 80 degree reading would not be surprising.
This strong front will have a modest supply of moisture to work with and could fire off a round of showers and storms on Monday south of I-40. If the cold front is slow to advance southward and pushes through in the early afternoon there would be a chance for these storms to turn severe. There is some indication right now that they would be slow moving and could drop some beneficial rain.
As it sits right now, it’s a 30-percent chance of rain.
As that round of showers pushes south there will be a lull in the action until a second piece of energy cruises through the area. This next round of precipitation is currently under debate by the computer weather models.
The calendar says, “It’s April.”
The recent round of afternoon high temperatures across the high plains and the mixed bag of thunderstorms says, “It’s April…”
But climatology says that late March and early April can still bring the high plains a chance for snow. So don’t let your guard down.
Green = 1″- 2″ // Pink = 7″- 9″
Right now a 40- to 50-percent chance for precipitation on Tuesday with a 20- to 30- percent chance that the precipitation comes down as snow. There is some indication that the dendritic zone might not be able to sustain snowflake growth. If that’s the case some freezing rain and sleet replace it.
That cold rain / snow / sleet / freezing rain mix would stick around for most of the day on Tuesday and into the morning on Wednesday.
Precipitation totals look to be between 1/4″ to 1″ of moisture – right now it’s not certain how that moisture will fall.
As always, we’ll be watching it closely.
