RGV prepares for strong dose of winter

HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The Rio Grande Valley will get a fairly strong dose of winter Monday into Wednesday. It begins with colder temperatures and cloudy conditions.

Overrunning rain and drizzle is expected this afternoon. Highs will struggle to reach close to 50 degrees in many areas of the Valley today.

Precipitation chances increase to about 90% tonight with most of it being overrunning rain and drizzle. Lows tonight will be close to freezing and by Tuesday morning we may also have a wintry mix of precipitation in some areas. While we anticipate this will mostly be freezing rain/drizzle, we could also get some sleet or a snowflake or two...especially in the western and northern areas of the RGV.

Consequently, the National Weather Service has issued several advisories. A Freeze Warning for the entire RGV from 3 a.m. until 9 a.m.; a Winter Storm Warning for Hidalgo, Starr, and Willacy Counties from 12 a.m. until 12 p.m.; a Winter Storm Watch for inland Cameron County from 3 a.m. until 9 a.m.; an Extreme Cold Warning from 3 a.m. until 9 a.m. Other cold weather-related advisories include a Freeze Watch from Tuesday evening until Wednesday morning and a Cold Weather Advisory from 6 p.m. on Tuesday until 9 a.m. on Wednesday. A Gale Warning has been issued for the Bay and Gulf waters with dangerous conditions expected on the waters. This will be on Tuesday from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m.

Final preparation to protect the four P's would best be completed this morning as possible rain this afternoon could make outdoor work uncomfortable, at best.

Tuesday promises to be a cold day with temperatures staying in the 30's for most of the RGV. Precipitation is expected to end Tuesday afternoon. Tuesday night into Wednesday morning will be the coldest of the week with temperatures dropping into the mid to upper 20's in many areas. Once we get through Wednesday night, we warm up quite a bit into the weekend with possible highs on Sunday of 80 degrees.