Central plains brace for drastic cool down

A strong cold front continues to barrel south and east across Texas this morning. It will continue to bring markedly cooler weather to places li Dallas, Midland and Austin.

24-hour Temperature differences

But its not just Texas.

Oklahoma City was around 70 degrees at this time yesterday morning – this morning, just 35. In Wichita, it is the same story. Yesterday morning they were around 70, bracing for severe weather, this morning, 32 with freezing drizzle.

The massive cold front is responsible for near-record lows in Denver Wednesday morning. At the time of this article, the temperature is just 9 degrees. The record is 7, set back in 1959.

This early April storm system is responsible for ushering in much colder air across the high plains. In Amarillo, Monday was a record-tying day. The high temperature was 89 degrees. Tuesday afternoon it was just 35 degrees. Today the forecast high is barely warmer at 42 degrees.

4/10/13 Tornado Risk // Courtesy: noaa.weather.gov

Ahead of this push of cold air, severe weather is expected from Illinois south through Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana. The Storm Prediction Center has issued a “Slight” risk for severe weather with a 2- to 5-percent tornado risk.

Meanwhile sleet, freezing rain and wet snow is expected in parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota and back through the Dakotas. In Sioux Falls, for example, they expect an additional 3- to 6-inches of snow today.

Luckily, the Minnesota Twins are not playing at home, where Target Field will be covered by 1- to 2-inches of a mixture of snow, freezing rain and sleet. Instead they play Kansas City, in Kansas City, where the forecast is for rain showers and temperatures in the 40s – sounds like perfect baseball weather, right?



Author of the article:


Nick Lilja

Nick is former television meteorologist with stints in Amarillo and Hattiesburg. During his time in Hattiesburg, he was also an adjunct professor at the University of Southern Mississippi. He is a graduate of both Oregon State and Syracuse University that now calls Houston home. Now that he is retired from TV, he maintains this blog in his spare time.