A rather quiet and cloudy day so far this afternoon, but we could see a few showers or weak storms, mainly in the southern half of the Permian Basin. Best rain chances will be on a line from Fort Stockton to Big Lake and southward from there. If you do see rain, amounts will be very small. The main action will occur as we head into the overnight hours and into Thursday as a cold front sweeps through the area.

The front will move through the Permian Basin early Thursday, moving through Midland and Odessa around 4 to 5am. It will bring with it very strong wind speeds due to a large difference in atmospheric pressure. We'll see sustained winds at 25-40 mph with gusts up to 55 mph Thursday morning through the afternoon. The Guadalupe Mountains could see gusts up to 75 mph. Wind speeds will decrease through the evening hours and be at around 15-20 mph after 10pm.

Then we are also tracking the chance of precipitation with this system, in the form of rain and possibly some snow. Precip may start as snow around sunrise in SE New Mexico and the northern Permian Basin before transitioning to a rain/snow mix later in the morning and into the early afternoon. Accumulating snow is not expected due to temperatures at the surface being well above freezing. One area that could see just a very light dusting and some patchy slick spots on the roads would be from Seminole, TX west to Hobbs, NM and north to Tatum. High impacts, though, are not expected.

Temperatures will be chilly behind the front, staying in the 40s the majority of the day. Add in the wind and it will feel much colder with wind chill temperatures in the 20s and 30s. Expect calmer weather Friday and into Saturday as wind speeds slow down. We’ll see plenty of sunshine with temps warming back into the 50s and 60s.

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