Central Texas 'Cold Front' Continues Through Weekend

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TX — Amid what's being called a "cold front" that blew in at this week — effectively ending a string of consecutive triple-digit heat heat — Central Texas residents are virtually giddy as temperatures drop.

Accustomed to the 100-degree temps that are de rigueur in Texas come summertime, residents have enjoyed relatively balmy weather barely reaching the low 90s. Especially delightful are the evenings of late that aren't sweltering like usual, but with temperatures in the mid- to high 60s.

Brrr!

Even the staid meteorologists at the National Weather Service — who've seen it all from a weather standpoint — couldn't contain their exuberance, employing an exclamation point in describing the current (and delightful) weather: "Cool Temps and Clear Skies!" read one headline on their website accompanied by a map.

National Weather Service graphic.

"Much drier and cooler air has filtered in today in the wake of a welcomed July cold front," National Weather Service officials wrote on Wednesday. "Clouds tonight will remain mostly clear allowing for effective cooling. Lows will be in the 60's across the region. These overnight lows will near or potentially match record minimum temperatures for tomorrow."

By tomorrow, they meant Thursday, July 25, when temps will continue to plunge into the 60s in what is an welcome aberration to sweating residents. That cold front is expected to linger in the coming days. Here's the National Weather Service forecast for the next few days:

• Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 92 (ninety-two, y'all!) Light north northeast wind becoming east northeast 5 miles per hour to 10 miles per hour in the morning.
• Thursday night: Clear, with a low around 68. East wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light northeast after midnight.
• Friday: Sunny, with a high near 94. North northwest wind around 5 mph becoming east in the morning.
• Friday night: Mostly clear, with a low around 72. East southeast wind 5 to 10 mph.
• Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 94. East southeast wind 5 to 10 mph.
• Saturday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 75. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
• Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 95. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
• Sunday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 75. South wind around 10 mph.
• Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 96.
• Monday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 75.

Enjoy these comparatively arctic days while you can, as temps will begin an upward trend more in line with a typical Texas summer come Tuesday. The high temp that day is expected to reach 97 degrees. Saving grace: The evening will be a balmy 76 degrees, according to forecasters.

We've searched in vain for an explanation for these non-seasonal days we've been enjoying this week, but cannot seem to find a precise study as to what's causing the drop in temps. Perhaps it's best to live it alone and not upset the weather gods.

It's like Mark Twain once said about the rainbow: "We have not the reverent feeling for the rainbow that the savage has, because we know how it is made. We have lost as much as we gained by prying into that matter."

So let's leave it alone sans scientific explanation, and just enjoy and revel in this gift from the heavens. And along the way, let's have some fun with it, like Williamson County Constable Precinct 1 has done in reminding of the three Ps of inclement weather: