Everyone gets excited when they hear the words “cold front” in August. Then reality shows up.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been toasty hot. Everyday a sizzler with 100 heat index and the ground drying up fast. Saying the words, \u201ccold front\u201d brings about two distinct responses, one of hallelujah, we are saved and dreams of pulling out long stored hoodies, smelling that pumpkin spice, and opening the windows materialize. The other camp stands in steadfast disbelief, a tumbleweed has a greater chance of rolling into town than a breeze of cold air. So, whose right? They both are but not this weekend. Time for a dose of reality.<\/p>\n
It’s Saturday evening…. reality hits hard. Yeah, that front arrived alright, toasted by the dragon breath coming off the gulf and heated up from above by the blazing sun. It\u2019s a scorched, parched blue shell fading as it gives up 12 raindrops.<\/p>\n
Then Sunday arrives…<\/p>\n
…and it’s still in the 90s.<\/p>\n
So what happened to the cold front?<\/p>\n
The Problem Is the Name<\/p>\n
The phrase “cold front” is a little misleading this time of year. In January, a cold front can drop temperatures 30 or 40 degrees.<\/p>\n
In August?<\/p>\n
A front doesn’t have to be cold to be called a cold front. It simply marks the leading edge of a cooler air mass replacing an even hotter one. That’s why a forecast of 100 today and 95 tomorrow can still be associated with a cold front.<\/p>\n
It’s all relative.<\/p>\n
Summer Cold Fronts Are Rare<\/p>\n
This time of the year, the jet stream is usually well north of Texas while a stubborn ridge of high pressure keeps the heat locked in place. Honestly, most fronts never make it this far south.<\/p>\n
When one actually reaches South-Central Texas, it’s unusual enough to capture attention.<\/p>\n
So… Where’s My Cold Front?<\/p>\n
NOTE: You just have to know where to look.<\/p>\n
Instead of a dramatic blast of chilly air, this weekend’s front is more likely to bring:<\/p>\n
Afternoon temperatures a few degrees lower.Slightly lower humidity in some locations.A wind shift.A small chance of isolated showers or thunderstorms.<\/p>\n
That’s not exactly hoodies, pumpkin spice and furry boot weather…<\/p>\n
But after weeks of triple-digit heat, even five degrees can make the afternoon much more comfortable. Just keep one thing in mind.<\/p>\n
It’s an Intermission, Not an Ending<\/p>\n
If you’re hoping this front signals the beginning of fall… You’ll probably be disappointed.<\/p>\n
August still has plenty of summer left. The ridge of high pressure is expected to rebuild, and hotter weather will likely return next week. But that’s what makes these rare fronts so interesting. For a day or two, the atmosphere breaks its routine. The mornings feel a little different. The afternoons aren’t quite as toasty.<\/p>\n
And you can step outside and say…<\/p>\n
“Hey… this actually feels pretty good.”<\/p>\n
The Bottom Line<\/p>\n
If you’ve been asking, “Where’s my cold front?” The answer is…<\/p>\n
It’s coming. Just don’t expect it to look like December.<\/p>\n
In South Texas, an August cold front is about trading 100 for 95, adding a slight breeze, and reminding us that\u2014even in the hottest part of the year\u2014summer doesn’t always get the final word.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Everyone gets excited when they hear the words “cold front” in August. Then reality shows up. It\u2019s been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393796,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-393795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}