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Today: High winds. Blowing dust. High 62.
Tonight: Calming winds otherwise cold. Low 24.
Tomorrow: Dry start. PM wintry mix. High 39.

Holiday travel is going to be difficult over the next couple of days thanks to strong winds followed by wintry precipitation.

Winds will begin to ramp up throughout the morning and afternoon sustained at 30-40 mph with gusts as high as 60 mph. These westerly winds will make north/south travel difficult and blowing dust will help to reduce visibility this afternoon. Along with the travel and dust concern, these winds will bring in extremely dry air, giving us a fire weather risk for today. Much of the South Plains is under an elevated risk for fire weather while some of our extreme northeastern counties are under a critical risk. Burning outside and doing any outdoor cooking is highly discouraged today.

Gusty winds will die down this evening before we begin our next system that will disrupt holiday travel. What begins as a mainly rain event late afternoon/early evening on Wednesday will transition into a wintry mix. Snow potential is low in Lubbock, but areas to the north and west have a better chance of seeing some flakes fly. It looks like most of the snow will be kept in New Mexico, but we cannot completely rule it out in higher elevations to the NW.

The main concern with this wintry precipitation will be freezing rain. Temperatures at or below freezing on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning gives us a good chance for freezing rain. This means that roads will be icy making travel difficult. Rain continues throughout the morning and afternoon on Thursday breaking by the evening. More rain will be on the way by overnight on Thursday and into Friday with temperatures remaining well above freezing overnight.

Overall, the best chance for holiday travel will be early Wednesday morning and afternoon. Keep in mind: If you’re heading to New Mexico or the panhandle, they have the best chance for seeing accumulating snowfall from Wednesday into Thursday.

-Meteorologist Kellianne Klass

Facebook: Meteorologist Kellianne Klass
Twitter: @KellianneWX