LUBBOCK, Texas — KAMC Meteorologist Jacob Riley has your Tuesday morning forecast. Sponsored by J Ferg Pros.

Good Tuesday morning and Merry Christmas Eve! Warmer temperatures will persist across the South Plains today. Travel conditions will receive the green light across the region, with a stray afternoon shower or two possible over eastern New Mexico. Highs today will one again peak in the upper 60s and lower 70s across the region under a partly to mostly cloudy sky.

Tonight, any stray rain showers that we have around early will fall apart. Santa’s journey across the South Plains will be smooth sailing this year! Other than a few clouds, we will remain quiet overnight. Lows will fall into the upper 30 and lower to middle 40s by Wednesday morning.

Christmas Day will be a warm one with high temperatures reaching the middle 60s under a partly cloudy sky. Winds will gust over 30 MPH at times as a low pressure system tracks to the north and west of the South Plains. Overnight, lows will fall down into the middle and lower 30s.

Thursday is when our pattern begins to change. It will be another slightly above average day in terms of temperatures. By the evening hours, showers will begin to increase over southern portions of the region. Rain showers will become more widespread overnight as lows fall into the lower 40s and upper 30s.

By Friday, widespread heavy rainfall will encompass all of the South Plains. Assuming Lubbock doesn’t receive any measurable rain today, it will mark our 25th consecutive day without seeing any measurable rain. This streak will definitely end by Friday. Some models are showing close to 2 inches of rain across northwestern portions of the region. Highs will hold in the middle and upper 50s, with lows remaining mild, only in the lower 40s.

This weekend is when colder air will arrive across western Texas. Highs will fall slightly below average, topping out in the middle and upper 40s. As the precipitation is beginning to exit the region, we could see a brief transition over to a wintry mix along and to the north of U.S. Highway 70. No accumulation is expected. Models are struggling to pinpoint the exact track of the low pressure system. If it tracks further to the south, we could see more wintry precipitation across a greater portion of the South Plains. As of right now, this looks unlikely.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Have a wonderful week and a Happy Holidays!

-Jacob

Facebook: Meteorologist Jacob Riley

Twitter: @jrileywx