Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Any Rain for Central Texas?


The above surface map is valid at 12:30 PM CDT.  The dashed blue line shows the approximate location of a weak cold frontal boundary that stretches West to East/Northeast across the heart of  Texas.  The boundary is nearly stationary on the Western end, and moving slowly East/Southeastward on the
Eastern end.

The low-levels of the atmosphere are very humid and unstable along and South of the boundary.  This would typically lead to rain and thunderstorm development as the afternoon heats up.  However, just like yesterday, a very strong "capping inversion" remains in place over the region.

As the afternoon heats up and would-be thunderstorm clouds build and keep chipping away at the cap, at least some isolated thunderstorm development should take place (chances are a bit better than they were yesterday).

Any thunderstorm that does form late this afternoon and/or this evening will bring beneficial rain, but also a threat of large hail and strong, gusty winds.


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