Valley added to winter weather advisory

HARLINGEN — A winter weather advisory has been extended this morning to include all of the Rio Grande Valley.

National Weather Service forecasters in Brownsville say a forecast that includes sub-freezing temperatures, sleet, freezing rain and ice pellets has been extended south to the U.S.-Mexico border.

“It includes all of the inland areas of Deep South Texas,” said meteorologist Chris Birchfield in Brownsville. “Cameron, Willacy and Hidalgo are in the winter weather advisory right now because we are seeing the possibility of some wintry mix.”

Both freeze warnings and a wind chill advisory will be in effect starting Tuesday.

Beginning Tuesday morning, temperatures in the region are set to plunge into the high 20s both Tuesday and Wednesday. The winter weather advisory extends from 3 p.m. Tuesday until 6 a.m. Thursday.

“We’ll see very cold temperatures, very cold wind chills, and the possibility of some freezing rain and sleet mixing in the frame,” Birchfield said. “Obviously, the longer we have temperatures below freezing, the more of a hazard it could be on the roadways, especially elevated surfaces.”

Just how far south the winter precipitation line goes is still unclear.

“There’s a little uncertainty as to how much of that precipitation we’ll see,” he added. “But if temperatures do go below freezing, which is what we’re expecting for a lot of the area, we could see some issues, some slippery spots out there.”

Much of Wednesday will be below freezing for much of the Valley, and icy conditions on roadways and overpasses are expected both in daytime and night-time hours.