A sharp cool down for west Texas
Posted by Ryan
Texas, at the beginning of the week, was still in the throes of summer. It was hot and dry, and remained that way in El Paso on Monday, when temperatures peaked at 90. There was a sharp, rapid cool down on Tuesday, however, as a dry cold front swung through town and knocked temperatures down by almost 20 degrees. Weatherbug did the best work with the seasonal transition.
Actuals: Monday, High 90, Low 54
Tuesday, High 73, Low 54
Grade: B
Midland, Texas to El Paso, Texas
Posted by Ryan
Just a wee little trip today. It's a 305 mile drive between the two towns, and it will take us 4 miles to cover the ground, but still, it's the same state! There is pretty much just the one interstate between the two towns, so our rate of speed will be a lightning quick 72.2mph. Let's hop on that rocket and head west.
The primary concern for our drive won't be rain or snow or anything like that, but some gusty winds that may blow tractor trailers around, so be wary of the other vehicles on the road, and keep both hands on the wheel. It won't help that it will be hot and dry, so some of those winds could lead to blowing dust or even some tumbleweeds. Have you ever seen a tumbleweed? I drove over one once. Not pleasant. It SHOULD be pleasant in El Paso upon our arrival, however. (Segue!)
El Paso, Texas
Posted by Ryan
The old West Texas town of El Paso. I have to believe this forecast will be pretty similar to that of Midland, where we went yesterday.
At 251PM, CT, El Paso was reporting a temperature of 84 degrees with clear skies. High pressure continues to arc it's way through the southern portion of the country, with a well established jet riding through the northern tier of states.
A short waved trough will ride through the jet and pass through the central Plains tomorrow, bringing a brief but strong burst of northerly wind that will dry out the atmosphere and as an area of high pressure builds back into the area quickly. Cooler air will trail the northerly wind.
Tomorrow - Breezy but sunny. High 88, Low 60
Tuesday - Winds calmer, with sunny skies, High 73, Low 55
TWC: Tomorrow - Sunny skies. Near record high temperatures High 91, Low 53
Tuesday - Mainly sunny High 76, Low 59
AW: Tomorrow - Very warm with plenty of sunshine; breezy in the afternoon High 87, Low 62
Tuesday - Cooler with a full day of sunshine High 73, Low 57
NWS: Tomorrow - Sunny High 89, Low 56
Tuesday - Sunny High 73, Low 49
AWB: Tomorrow - Sunny. High 90, Low 57
Tuesday - Sunny. High 74, Low 52
So there you have it. Two days of west Texas forecasts, with dry days all.
El Paso, Texas to Dalton, Georgia
Posted by Anthony
Sorry for the late post, I fully blame the Fall Premiere season of TV. And Real Job Inc. And butterflies (nobody EVER suspects the butterfly). But here are are, embarking off a trip through the southern US. Through the entire state of Texas to the Southern Appalachians, we'll cover 1,448 miles over 3 days. Time to head off!
DAY ONE
We head out eastward from El Paso, and even though we'll travel 575 miles today, we'll still be in the same state when we finish! Everything's bigger in Texas, even the state itself, right? A system pushing (very slowly) out of the Four Corners region continues to bring rain to NM and west TX, so some scattered showers and perhaps an early morning thunderstorm is possible as we make our way on I-10 from El Paso to I-20. High pressure sitting over the Upper Midwest has been keeping the kibosh on most of the precip that's been rolling out of the mountains and into the Plains. Some clusters of precip have been surviving, but for the most part have been staying north of our route. By midday, as we make our way past Midland, we should outrun most of the precip, but it'll remain cloudy over the region. A dry trip continues as we make our way into the aptly named Weatherford for the night.
DAY TWO
Some low clouds are expected to form in southeasterly flow during the overnight, blotting out the morning sun as we start our trek towards the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area (probaly not the best place to go through rush hour, but hey, everybody's getting along right?). A few scattered showers will linger into midday, but most likely will be found farther north towards the Red River and places northward. Sunlight will be more prevalent as we continue into northern Louisiana by early afternoon and moreso as we pull into Jackson, MS, our end of our 464-mile 2nd day.
DAY THREE
Remember that high pressure I mentioned earlier? By today it's shifted over the Northeast and Ohio Valley, but its influence extends down into the Tennessee Valley. What luck! That's exactly where we're traveling through today! Some patchy morning fog is expected as we head on our way, but will burn off quickly by mid-morning as the sun climbs into the sky. While our trip today is "only" 414 miles, it might be some slow going as we move through the cities of Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, both of which were heavily damaged during the outbreak back in late April. Would be interesting to see how much they've come back from that awful day. Otherwise, it should be smooth sailing towards Chattanooga and into Dalton.
As hot as expected
Posted by Ryan
El Paso lies west of the dry line, as Anthony mentioned on Thursday. They get nothing but scalding heat, a good toasty dry heat almost every day through the summer. The past two days were no different, with the highs dancing about 100, and the lows not cooling off enough for a northerner to sleep, that's for sure. Victoria Weather and the Weather Channel tied atop the leaderboard.
Actuals: Friday, High 103, Low 68
Saturday, High 102, Low 76
Grade: B
El Paso, Texas to Lawton, Oklahoma
Posted by Ryan
Just a one day journey today, headed to Lawton, perhaps the only site that you can get to in one day from El Paso. It's a 655mile drive that will actually take us about 9 1/2 hours. IF you do the math, that's a 68.5mph average, telling you all you need to know about the terrain we will be covering.
The drive will be extremely warm, with temperatures in the neighborhood of 100 degrees in El Paso and not much cooler through west Texas. I wouldn't be surprised to see 90s all the way through the drive. The dry line will set itself up along the Texas/New Mexico border, but its associated storms won't go up until around 4 or 5 in the afternoon, and by that time we'll be between Abilene and Wichita Falls, well away from any inclement weather. Hot and dry will be the name of this long, steamy drive.
El Paso, Texas
Posted by Anthony
Off to El Paso, pretty much the westernmost point in Texas. But at least it's not a far walk to get some authentic Pesos!
At 6:51 MDT, the temperature was 98 degrees with just a few clouds in the area. Tis the season for hot and dry weather over the Desert area of the Southern U.S., where temperatures often creep up towards triple digits. In fact, including today, 10 of the 17 days so far in June have hit 98 or higher. Also, most people don't realize El Paso is at 3,740 feet above sea level. Often times during the summer heating, thunderstorms like to kick off over west TX/east NM over the plateau when upsloping winds like to get the atmosphere riled up. For El Paso, however, most of this activity is usually well enough off to the east for them not to have to worry about it. For the next couple of days, that looks to be the case as the dryline continues to linger over west-central TX and the monsoon hasn't quite kicked into full gear yet. Friday has a slightly better chance at seeing a rogue thunderstorm, but either way, probably unlikely they'll see anything but continued heat.
Friday: Partly cloudy. High 102, Low 71.
Saturday: Partly cloudy. High 101, Low 74.
TWC: Friday: Sunny. High 103, Low 74.
Saturday: Sunny. High 101, Low 76.
AW: Friday: Mostly sunny. High 101, Low 71.
Saturday: Partly sunny. High 98, Low 74.
NWS: Friday: Partly cloudy. High 102, Low 71.
Saturday: Partly cloudy. High 99, Low 72.
WB: Friday: Partly cloudy. High 102, Low 72.
Saturday: Partly cloudy. High 101, Low 72.
Here we see some of the thunderstorms going off over the high plains area of western TX, but nothing really back towards El Paso. And back in NW AZ, you can see the Grand Canyon even! Amazing!
