BurtonFitzsimmons.com

A pair of frigid mornings remind us winter’s on the doorstep, with an official arrival this Saturday — the winter solstice. After a widespread morning freeze, we warm a bit more this afternoon under some sun.

Coldest morning low temps:

21 Driftwood
22 ABIA
22 Cedar Creek
22 Dripping Springs
22 Fredericksburg
22 Manor
23 Jonestown
23 Rosanky
24 Buda
24 Oak Hill
25 Bertram
25 Spicewood

Fortunately, calm winds provided for little wind chill at the break of dawn when those lows were set! Our forecast calls for highs in the upper 50s to near 60 by 3pm.

Expect mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies as a stream of Pacific moisture return to the area (satellite loop,) with little rain or other precip expected to fall this week. Two cold fronts will sweep our way: one late Wednesday and another by Saturday. Neither bring much more than a 20% chance for rain.

Thanks to a return of southeasterly winds later today, daytime temps will push into the 70s starting tomorrow and for each day through the rest of the week. Saturday’s cold front will have the most impact on temps, cooling us off 10 degrees or so into Sunday. After this morning’s freeze, we expect to be above 32 degrees in all areas through the weekend.

Good weather for shopping and traveling here the last week before Christmas! Check back for updates of weather around the country, and for specific details about your Central Texas forecast on the 8-day forecast.

Winter Solstice… We officially transition from fall to winter later this week, with the 2007 winter solstice coming at 12:08am Saturday. Due to the sun’s lowest position in our sky across the northern hemisphere, it’s the longest night of the year. Click here for more details.

Enjoy your Monday.

Meteorologist
Burton Fitzsimmons

The raw rain’s gone and our sun shines again! Look for clouds to decrease early this morning, with temps warming up to near December normals at or just above 60 degrees this afternoon. Skies may be just clear enough to see some “shooting stars” tonight…

Satellite images bring us good news this morning: the clouds are breaking up and will soon fly the coop. Morning lows in the upper 30s to low 40s will quickly warm under bright sunshine. Don’t forget your shades!

A light easterly wind will become more southerly tonight, and we’ll go from a mostly clear evening to some patchy low clouds and thicker fog again by sunrise Friday. Clouds will hang out most of the day as another cold front approaches I-35, likely arriving after sunset tomorrow with a 40% chance for brief showers and a few storms into the night.

The upper-level disturbance delivering this next front will then zoom across the midwest and eventually make it to the northeast, bringing heavy snows and some debilitating travel conditions. Caution: some airports in New England may have widespread delays and cancellations this weekend.

Expect strong north winds to breeze into Central Texas early Saturday with some very chilly results. Look for breezy sunshine with 50s Saturday, dropping to an areawide freeze Sunday morning. It’s likely going to be our first frost in the metro areas this season, with many 20s to be found, then we’ll only warm into the mid 50s Sunday. Another freeze for many, possibly all, will occur Monday morning.

Temps will warm back up to near 70 by the middle of next week before our next cold front arrives, possibly with some rain. You’ll find more details on today’s 8-day forecast.

Olga Dissipates… Olga dropped from Tropical Storm to Tropical Depression status late last night and continues to die out now, so the last advisory has been written by the Hurricane Center. This morning’s satellite loop over the Caribbean shows no organized convection at this point. Adios!

Geminid Meteor Shower Tonight… Fragments of an asteroid passing within 11 million miles of our planet will enter the atmosphere at about 100,000 mph tonight into Friday morning, producing the best meteor shower of 2007. Unfortunately, our skies will only be clear for a few hours after dark, it appears, but it might be long enough to see a few dozen meteors or “shooting stars” an hour. Best views will be seen away from city lights — look west. Click here for more details from NASA. Join us tomorrow for photos of the event from around the world.

Enjoy this beautiful Thursday.

Meteorologist
Burton Fitzsimmons