3/3 Texas Weather 6 AM: Fire Weather Watch

Good morning. Texas. I'm Aaron Jolly. A big ridge of high pressure is camped over us right now, pulling warm Gulf air straight up through the state like a conveyor belt. That's why you walked outside to 71 degrees before sunrise. In March. Let that sink in. In the next 24 hours. That overcast sky? It burns off by midday. Then the real heat kicks in. Down in South Texas, you're looking at 92 degrees this afternoon. Nineteen degrees above normal. Heat index values pushing 90. That's not a typo. Central Texas climbs to 88 under sunny skies. North Texas tops out at 83. Along the Gulf Coast, 82 degrees with maybe a stray early shower. South winds at 10 to 15 miles an hour gust to 25 this afternoon. Slather on that sunscreen if you're grilling out. Tonight stays absurdly warm. Lows only dip to 68 statewide. That's warmer than our normal highs this time of year. Patchy fog rolls in along the coast between 3 and 5 A.M. Watch for that if you're an early commuter. Now. Wednesday flips the script. A cold front drops into North Texas and stalls near I-20. Showers and thunderstorms fire along it by afternoon. Central and North Texas, storms are likely. Some could turn strong to severe with hail and gusty winds. Looking ahead, unsettled weather owns the rest of the week. Multiple rounds of thunderstorms roll through Friday into Sunday. Heavy rain and flooding become real concerns by Saturday. Temperatures cool slightly but stay above normal. Keep an eye on those storm updates. Quick history note. On this exact day in 2012, fifteen tornadoes ripped across North Texas. Severe weather season is twelve days out. Time to dust off that storm plan. For the extended outlook, check the latest forecast as confidence improves. That's your forecast — we'll be back tomorrow.