National Weather Service
Friday forecast for Austin: Black Friday shoppers will need a winter coat by the end of the day — along with the umbrella that’s been necessary the past few days — as a cold front is expected to deliver much cooler temperatures and heavier rains by the late afternoon.
Showers will persist with a slight chance of thunderstorms throughout the morning, the National Weather Service said. High temperatures will range from 70 to 75 degrees. The good news is, the weather service has optimistically not issued a flash flood watch yet.
A cold front stretching from West Texas to Oklahoma that is moving southeast toward the Austin metro area. The front is expected to arrive in the northern parts of the Hill Country between 10 a.m. and noon and move into the western edges of the Austin metro area between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.
As the front passes, forecasters say:
- Temperatures will drop dramatically by about 20 to 25 degrees as the mercury settles around the lower 50s
- South winds of 10 to 15 mph will shift, becoming north winds with gusts of up to 25 mph
- Heavy rain and thunderstorms will increase as the cold air interacts with the warm Gulf moisture and taps a deep source of moisture from Hurricane Sandra, which has been downgraded to a Category 2 storm with sustained winds of 100 mph
- Widespread rainfall totals of 1 to 2 inches are expected, with isolated totals of 4 inches or more possible mainly across the Hill Country and northern parts of the Austin metro area.
Temperatures will remain well below normal on Saturday with only a slight rise in temperatures because of the cloud cover, the weather service says. Breezy and wet conditions will make the temperatures feel colder, though. The miserable weather outlook persists into next week, as sunshine will remain elusive until at least Wednesday, forecasters say.
National Weather Service
