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Rio Grande Valley residents know that fall is more a concept than an actual season, though something resembling fall — the Valley’s version of it, anyway — is making an appearance this week.
The first day of fall was Sunday, coinciding with the fall equinox.
National Weather Service forecasters said residents can expect a slight break from the recent heat and humidity, with temperatures in the Lower Valley getting down into the mid-70s around 6 a.m. Thursday and the low 70s the same time on Friday. This is thanks to a “cold” front dropping in from Central Texas, itself related to a low-pressure system aloft over the Central Mississippi River Valley.
A slight northerly breeze became detectable in the early morning hours Wednesday. It was expected to become a stout northerly wind by late Thursday afternoon. Even through actual temperatures aren’t expected to decrease all that much, as the humidity level falls heat indexes should become less extreme — from a peak of around 102 degrees mid-afternoon Wednesday in the Lower Valley to a mere 91 mid-afternoon on Friday.
Unlike many days this month, triple-digit heat indexes (feels-like temperatures) were nowhere to be seen in the forecast through the weekend and beyond, according to forecasters.
The same general trend was expected for the Upper Valley, though with slightly higher temperatures and heat indexes. As with the Lower Valley forecast, triple-digit heat indexes absent from the forecast over the next several days at least. Rain chances are few and far between, after a smattering of heavy today and yesterday.
In the long-term forecast for Thursday through next Tuesday, forecasters predicted that much drier surface air will continue to filter into the deep South Texas region in the wake of the cold front. Hurricane Helene, forecast to make landfall around Florida’s Big Bend region by late Thursday evening, was expected to produce “long period swell,” resulting in increased wave heights and adverse, ongoing beach conditions Thursday into Friday.
“An enhanced rip current risk and minor coastal flooding will be possible at beaches along the lower Texas Coast Thursday night into Saturday,” according to the NWS.
