A strong cold front will push through Southeast Texas late Saturday night/early Sunday morning, bringing gusty northerly winds, elevated to critical fire weather conditions, and the potential for the first freeze of the season for northern areas. Hazardous marine conditions are also expected with the potential for Gale Watches/Warnings and abnormally low water levels.
By early Sunday morning, a strong cold front will be offshore with moderate to strong northerly winds in its wake. Sustained winds throughout the day on Sunday will be in the 20-30 mph range with 30-40 mph wind gusts. A Wind Advisory may be needed for parts of the area. The combination of these gusty winds and dry air filtering in behind the cold front will lead to elevated to critical fire weather conditions on Sunday and Monday. Minimum relative humidity values on Sunday afternoon will be in the 25-35% range and in the 15-25% range on Monday afternoon. The winds will be the strongest on Sunday, but gusty winds carry over into Monday morning before gradually subsiding. The Texas A&M Forest Service has already outlined Southeast Texas in a very high to extreme forecast fire danger rating for Sunday.
This cold front will bring the coldest air of the season so far, and with that comes the potential for the first freeze of the season for some of our northern counties. On Sunday night and/or Monday night, there is potential for a light freeze for portions of the Brazos Valley and the Piney Woods. Monday night into Tuesday morning looks to be the most favorable. Freeze Watches/Warnings may be needed (Reminder: these are only issued for a particular county once for the first freeze during the growing season). Down below is a graphic that shows the latest probabilities of low temperatures reaching 32 degrees or below on Sunday night and Monday night.
