Good morning everybody! Unseasonably warm temperatures will continue today. We will be dealing with very windy and critical fire weather conditions. A cold front will move through tonight and help decrease the wind speeds.Wind speeds will be even higher Sunday with more fire weather. There is a slight chance for rain next week.
The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for most of the South Plains. This is in effect from 11 AM to 6 PM. Warm temperatures, gusty winds, and dry conditions will elevate our fire danger. Relative humidities will drop below 15% this afternoon and hover around 10%. These are very dry conditions and any out door burning is highly discouraged. West winds will pick up late this morning and should be sustained around 20-30 mph. Gusts could be as high as 45 mph. Any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly. The gusty winds will also kick up some areas of blowing dust.
Very warm temperatures are expected today. Our average high this time of year is 54 degrees. We will be almost 20-25 degrees above average! Lubbock's record high is 78 degrees and was set back in 1986. We have a chance of tying or breaking that later on this afternoon. These temperatures will feel more like the middle of April rather than January.
A cold front will move through the region tonight and we will experience a northerly wind shift. Winds will come down as well tonight. Saturday is shaping up to be a beautiful day. Temperatures will be warm and winds will be somewhat light around 10-15 mph.
A high wind event is in store Sunday. We expect winds to be even higher than today. Sustained winds should be around 25-35mph with gust near 55mph. Once again this will elevate our fire weather danger. Strong winds will start to decrease Sunday evening.
There is a slight chance we could see some showers Tuesday. Models are still having trouble with timing. It looks like the best chance to see some precipitation will be Tuesday evening through Wednesday morning. Better dynamics will stay to our south, hence only a 10% chance.
Have a great Friday! Rudy will have the latest to the warm and windy forecast tonight on the News at Nine.
-Chase
