Now that we're in the spring season, many things are going to be changing. We've started to try to get into a pattern of warmer air. However, west Texas weather is always uncertain and high temperatures as of late have definitely been wacky. Flowers are starting to bloom, grass is turning green again and allergens are back in the air. Now, it has not been too awful in west Texas just yet. Ragweed, grass and dust have been low for the last few weeks and will continue to stay there this week. However, with more trees budding, as you would expect, tree pollen is coming in at moderate. We need to keep an eye on that because we'll get more allergens in the air and that will affect your outdoor plans. Get some allergy medication and be ready for whenever we start to hit the full bloom of allergy season. I'd say that's coming in a few weeks. But that depends on how warm it will get; and stay.
April is usually one of the busiest times of the year for west Texas weather. The dry line gets set up, which sparks our severe weather on the South and Rolling Plains. There has been a dry line set-up a few times, but we have not had the ingredients yet for many severe storms. There was that storm that dropped large hail on Lubbock a few weeks ago, but since then it has been quiet. Now, that is really good news in terms of not seeing severe thunderstorms. The bad news is the fact that it has been very dry in our area since mid-March. The latest precipitation outlook for Lubbock shows us in a deficit for the month April, which should come as no surprise; it has not rained lately. There has been over three inches of rain for the year, which is holding us in a surplus. But the surplus is only coming in a .51". That is going to continue to drop as long as the dry air wins out. Spoiler alert: dry air is going to win out at least over the next week. The only minor bright side in the forecast is a few showers on Friday at 10%.
Looking ahead, our next strong cold front is going to move our way late Wednesday night, into the early morning hours on Thursday. This will help to usher in much colder air. Just as soon as we were getting used to highs in the upper 80s and low 90s, we'll drop below average with highs in the upper 50s and low 60s. The computer forecast in the photo above is actually overdoing high temperatures Thursday. Don't expect to see 70s on the map in the afternoon hours. Highs will only be in the upper 50s to the north and northwest, and in the mid 60s for most other locations. The wind that we will see is going to be sustained at 15-20 mph, so that is going to feel more like the low 50s for most. Be ready to dress warm for Thursday and Friday. Don't put away the long sleeves and jackets just yet!