Nixon, Texas

... Snow likely across The Hill Country and south central Texas
Friday...

... Hard freeze expected across The Hill Country and south central
Texas late Friday night into Saturday...

An upper level disturbance will move across The Hill Country and
south central Texas late Thursday into Friday. Precipitation will
develop after midnight Thursday night over the Rio Grande Valley
and Edwards Plateau and become more widespread during the day on
Friday across the remainder of south central Texas. Cold air will
continue to plunge south into Texas tonight through Friday. Enough
cold air will be present Friday that precipitation will mainly be
snow across most of the area. The snow will end Friday evening as
the disturbance moves east of the area.

Snowfall amounts will generally range from one half to one
inch... although amounts up to two inches are possible across the
northern Hill Country and portions of the Edwards Plateau. Lesser
amounts are forecast along and south of Highway 57. Winter weather
advisories will likely be required.

Clearing skies... light winds and low dewpoint temperatures will
allow for a hard freeze late Friday night into Saturday morning
across the area. Lows in the upper teens to mid 20s are expected
across The Hill Country with mid 20s to around 30 across south
central Texas.

Stay tuned to NOAA Weather Radio... the National Weather Service
website... or your preferred weather information source for the
latest forecasts... statements and possible advisories.

... Early December cold outbreaks from the past...

Cold outbreaks in early December are not uncommon... and several have
come in the past 10 years on a regular basis. A few that have come
since year 2000 are mentioned below.

In 2008 on December 9th afternoon highs rose to the 70s over The
Hill Country to 80s across adjacent parts of south central Texas in
the afternoon and then fell to the 30s during the evening of
December 9th to after midnight on December 10th. A brief winter
precipitation event came to the area the night of December 9th to
the early morning of December 10th... 2008. Brief periods of
occasional thunder and lightning accompanied the precipitation in
the evening of December 9th... 2008.

In 2005 on December 7th a winter precipitation event came during the
late afternoon to the evening to The Hill Country and adjacent parts
of central and south central Texas. The winter precipitation
event affected the area from the evening to night of December
7th... 2005. Freezing rain continued over the East Part of south
central Texas in the early morning hours of December 8th. Conditions
then dried up some during the day on December 8th... 2005... however
daytime highs remained cold with highs in the 30s to near 40.

In 2000 a freezing precipitation event came to south central Texas
on December 12th and 13th. The winter like precipitation began during
the day of December 12th and increased the night of December 12th.
The freezing rain and showers brought icy conditions to the area
the night of the 12th to early morning of December 13th... 2000.
Conditions dried up in the late morning through the afternoon
of December 13th... 2000.

For 2009... with the colder weather expected Thursday through
Saturday this week... the following information shows the the
coldest daytime highs and coldest overnight lows for
December 3rd... 4th and 5th from the past.

Location coldest daytime high coldest daytime low

Austin Mabry Dec. 3rd 37 in 1919 Dec. 3rd 22 in 1929
                   Dec. 4th 43 in 1971 Dec. 4th 23 in 1898
                   Dec. 5th 44 in 1904 Dec. 5th 24 in 1950

Austin Bergstrom Dec. 3rd 41 in 2000 Dec. 3rd 27 in 1976
                   Dec. 4th 44 in 1971 Dec. 4th 25 in 2006
                   Dec. 5th 38 in 1992 Dec. 5th 26 in 2006

Del Rio Dec. 3rd 43 in 1919 Dec. 3rd 25 in 1929
                   Dec. 4th 47 in 1971 Dec. 4th 26 in 1929
                   Dec. 5th 46 in 1992 Dec. 5th 28 in 1945

San Antonio Dec. 3rd 42 in 2000 Dec. 3rd 27 in 1929
                   Dec. 4th 44 in 1971 Dec. 4th 26 in 1886
                   Dec. 5th 45 in 1886 Dec. 5th 17 in 1886

Snowfall records from the past show a few events that snow
came to the area in November to December 15th.

The amounts greater than a trace of snow for November to December 15th
are listed below.

Austin...

November 8th... 1955 1 to 3 inches over the west part of Austin
November 14th... 1959 1.0 inch
November 22nd to 23rd... 1937 9.7 inches
November 25... 1980 1.0 inch
November 26... 1980 1.0 inch
December 9... 1898 3.0 inches
December 9... 2008 0.1 inches

San Antonio...

November 23... 1957 0.3 inches
December 14... 1898 2.7 inches

Del Rio...

November 23... 1957 0.1 inches
December 14... 1947 2.8 inches

The earliest date of snow observed in the area came on Saturday...
October 30th... 1993. This is when a trace of snow was observed at
San Antonio... and 1.2 inches was observed at del Rio. This cold
outbreak set record lows for the month of October on October
31st... 1993 of 27 at San Antonio... 28 at del Rio... and tied the
record of 30 at Austin Mabry on October 31... 1993 with
October 30... 1917.

With a widespread freeze expected this Friday night to early
Saturday morning... this will bring the coldest lows for the
fall/winter of 2009/2010 so far. In November 2009 a freeze
came to parts of The Hill Country.

The following list shows the average date of the first
and last freeze across The Hill Country and south central
Texas from 1950 through 2008.

Average first and last date of freezes 1950 to 2008

Location average first average last
                   freeze freeze

Rocksprings Nov 18 Mar 18

Del Rio Dec 1 Feb 21

Carrizo Springs Nov 30 Feb 20

Eagle Pass Dec 4 Feb 18

Llano Nov 9 Mar 22

Fredericksburg Nov 12 Mar 22

Blanco Nov 10 Mar 22

Johnson City Nov 13 Mar 22

Boerne Nov 11 Mar 22

Austin Mabry Dec 2 Feb 23

Austin Bergstrom Nov 28 Mar 3

San Marcos Nov 22 Mar 5

New Braunfels Nov 24 Mar 7

San Antonio Nov 25 Mar 2

The fall of 2009 officially ends on Monday December 21st... 2009...
when the winter of 2009/2010 begins at 1147 am CST... Monday...
December 21st.