COOL AIR IS HERE TO STAY FORAWHILE....JACKET WEATHER, ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT....

12:10 AM FRIDAY UPDATE:

A strong cold front moved from northwest to southeast across East Texas during the midday and afternoon hours on Friday. Most of us missed out on the shower action associated with the front as majority of the thunderstorm activity occured in SE Oklahoma, extreme northeast Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. A few of the storms were severe in those areas with some scattered hail and brief storng winds. A funnel clouds was even reported in McCurtain county, Oklahoma. Late in the afternoon a few showers and storms formed in the extreme southern and southeastern portions of East Texas with parts of Angelina, Nacogodoches, San Augustine and Sabine counties receiving a brief downpour.

The cold front has now pushed down to the coast and will continue moving southward during the upcoming day. Northerly winds are bringing down a good chunk of that cold air mass that has been sitting over the Midwest all week long. The only thing in question is a large area of low level moisture that extends from East Texas all the way up to the Great Lakes States. With winds more from the north and north-northeast instead of the northwest, those low clouds could linger in our area well into the morning hours. There is even a slight chance that the low clouds could linger all day. However, we certainly don't expect any rain on Friday and right now we still expect the low cloud to break allowing for a decent amount of sunshine for the afternoon hours. Temperatures however, will have a hard time making it out of the 60s even with some afternoon sunshine. The weather for Friday night football will then be very November-like with temperatures dropping into and through the 50s during the games with clear to partly cloudy skies.

On Saturday, a re-inforcing should of chilly air will move in from the north and northeast and bring temperatures down a few degrees more for the rest of the weekend. Highs on Satruday and Sunday will probably only be in the middle 60s with lows Sunday morning probably reaching the lower 40s in many areas.

By Monday afternoon, the cold ridge of high pressure will move far enough off to the east to allow winds to return from the south leading to a signficant warm-up for Monday afternoon and Tuesday. The next storms system should make its way into our area on Wednesday leading to a decent chance of thunderstorms, which would be followed by clearing skies and mild temperatures for Thursday and Friday.

FORECAST DETAILS:

OVERNIGHT: Mostly cloudy, brisk and chilly. Low near 54. Winds N 10 mph.

DURING THE DAY FRIDAY: Continued breezy and chilly...Morning low clouds should give way to partly sunny skies for the midday and afternoon hours. High temperature only near 68. Winds NNE 10-15 mph.

FRIDAY NIGHT: Clear to partly cloudy and cold. Low Saturday mornning near 46. Winds NNE 5 mph.

SATURDAY: Partly sunny, and continued breezy and unseasonably chilly. High only 66. Winds NNE 10 mph.

SATURDAY NIGHT: Clear and quite cold. Lows will range from about 39 in some areas out int he country to 43-46 in the downtown areas of the bigger cities.

SUNDAY: Sunny and still chilly, but with light winds. High 66. Winds ENE 5-10 mph.

MONDAY: Mostly sunny...Chilly to start, Low 48...but milder in the afternoon. High 72. Winds SE 10 mph.

TUESDAY: Partly cloudy, windy and warmer. Low 58, High 75. WInds S 15 mph.

WEDNESDAY: Mostly cloudy, warm and humid with a decent chance (40%) of afternoon thunderstorms. low 65, High 78. Winds S 15 mph., but gusty near thunderstorms.

THURSDAY: Clearing, breezy and mild Low 60, High 73. Winds NW 15 mph.

Scott Chesner

THURSDAY