Winter Staying Away for the First Part of 2026

We are in for a warm start to the year 2026 and have multiple chances to break high temperature records over the next few days, so it seems like December never left. But one pretty big change from December that we are tracking is a multiple day stretch of rain and thunderstorm chances late next week.

Temperatures tomorrow may break records once again as highs in the low 80s are expected across Central Texas and the previous record for January 2nd was 80°. Some gusty winds may be a nuisance but all in all tomorrow looks beautiful with sunny skies for much of the day. A cold front will move through tomorrow night into Saturday morning, but the only impact it will have is to drop our temperatures back down into the 60s and 70s.

More warmth is expected to start next week with highs pushing towards the 80s once again, but this is about where things start to take a turn. In the back half of next week we are watching for multiple days with rain chances as our atmosphere looks to become pretty active. Model data is not entirely in agreement at this point but what they point to is a surface low pressure system forming near the rocky mountains and moving east across Oklahoma and Kansas with its associated cold front swinging south across parts of Texas. But the front appears to stall near Central Texas and provide continued lift for moist air coming up from the Gulf, giving us a few days with the potential for rainfall. By the weekend, a second low pressure system forms along the stalled front and kicks the cold front across the area from the west. This will likely give us the best chance to see some heavy rainfall. Temperatures look to drop steadily through this period, and by the end of the week our highs will fall into the 60s and 50s.

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