Strong Front Brings Storms Tonight, Cold for Christmas

Evening Update:

A new tornado watch now includes all of southeast Texas and expires at 6AM or when the front pushes through.  The atmosphere is becoming increasingly unstable in advance of a strong upper level storm pushing our way from west Texas.  Winds in the upper atmosphere are topping 140 mph, and as these strong winds move overhead, the threat of severe storms will increase.  A squall line should develop along or just ahead of the front, and the severe threat will transition from isolated tornadoes to damaging straight line winds. 

You can track the storms on our website with our interactive street-level mapping and Live Mega Doppler 13 HD. 

Previous Discussion Follows:

While a blizzard rages in the plains, severe storms are set to move into Houston overnight.  It's all part of a strong cold front that will put a chill in the air for Christmas.

A tornado watch is in effect until 9PM starting just north of Houston and stretching all the way past Dallas/Fort Worth into Oklahoma.  So if you're traveling up I-45 or Highway 59 tonight, be careful!  Strong southerly winds are blowing in warm, unstable air, and strong upper level winds could cause storms to start rotating.  If a rotating storm is picked up on radar, tornado warnings will likely be issued.

The tornado watch does not include Houston, but we're not in the clear yet from stormy weather.  A strong cold front will push through tonight, and a squall line is likely to race overhead in the hours after midnight.  Our exclusive FutureTrack computer model shows the squall line rolling into Houston around 3AM.  Winds behind the front will blow strongly out of the northwest with some wind gusts on Christmas Eve approaching 40 mph!

This front opens the door to some chilly weather that will hang around for the rest of the year!  Given the pattern, there is a chance that between Christmas and the New Year we'll see wintry precipitation fall somewhere in Texas. 

We all know that snow is rare here in Houston.  Multiple snowfalls in the same winter are even rarer.  Interestingly enough, whenever we've had multiple snowfalls in the same winter, the second snowfall has occurred almost exactly a month after the first.  Take a look at the 5 winters on record with multiple snowfalls:

1. 12/28/1925 and 1/26/1926
2. 1/14/1963 and 2/12/1963
3. 1/11/1973 and 2/9/1973
4. 1/19/1981 and 2/11/1981
5. 1/2/1985 and 2/1/1985

If it snows deep into the heart of Texas next week, history says it would be right on schedule.