The windiest city? Close

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - Wind once again plays a major “roll” in South Plains weather this week. As the wind increases, so will temperatures. Until the cold front. Then when speeds, and temperatures, will take a dip.

It’s been a cold start to the work and school week. Around Lubbock temperatures dropped to around freezing. The wind chill, even with a light wind, dipped into the mid-20s.

Today becomes just a bit breezy. The westerly breeze will pick up to about 10 to 20 mph. With a mostly sunny sky, this will help push high temperatures to well above average for the time of year.

Mostly clear and chilly tonight. The wind light, around 10 mph.

Sunny tomorrow morning, then becoming partly cloudy and somewhat windy. Tuesday afternoon winds will range from about 15 to 25 mph. Gusts around 30 mph are likely. Temperatures will peak about 20 degrees above average!

Light breezes return Tuesday night under a partly cloudy sky. Temperatures will remain mild. Lubbock’s low will be around 40 degrees.

The windiest day of the week will be Wednesday. Sustained winds around 30 mph are expected. Gusts near, possibly greater than, 50 mph are possible. Gusts near or greater than 60 mph may occur over the western viewing area. There may be areas of low visibility in blowing dust, especially near open fields.

The wildfire danger will be very high. Under the forecast conditions, fires ignite more easily, spread more quickly, and are much more difficult to bring under control. The NO BURN weather conditions continue across the KCBD and FOX34 viewing areas.

Wednesday afternoon otherwise will be partly cloudy with highs ranging from the the low 60s in the far northwest to the upper 70s in the far southeastern KCBD viewing area.

A cold front will follow, dropping Lubbock’s low to near freezing Thursday morning. Thursday’s temperatures will peak in the 50s. About average for the time of year.

Speaking of wind, did you know that the “Windy City”, Chicago, is not even in the top 100 windiest cities in the United States? According to at least one source, based on the average wind speed, Lubbock is the third windiest. Just ahead of us is Amarillo. Number 1 is Dodge City KS. Another list puts Lubbock at 16, and yet another at 19. Chicago gained the moniker The Windy City due to all the hot air associated with the politics there. So the story goes.

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