A Pipe-Bursting, Bone-Chilling Arctic Blast Will Ring in the New Year in the Concho Valley

SAN ANGELO – Concho Valley residents will ring in the new year with a blast of Arctic air cold enough to kill pets, burst pipes and devastate unprotected plants.  

A strong cold front will barrel down the midwest and straight into West Central Texas Saturday dropping temperatures throughout the day to well below freezing before midnight.  

According to meteorologists with the National Weather Service office in San Angelo, temperatures will drop from a high of 70 degrees New Year's Day to 22 degrees by Sunday morning with wind chills in the single digits to teens.  

It will be much colder Sunday morning behind the frigid front.  Temperatures will be in the teens to the 20s region wide and will only warm to the upper 40s Sunday afternoon.  Temps will again drop to the hard freezing 20s Sunday night before returning to seasonal norms on Monday.  

Temperatures and wind chills that low can easily kill outdoor pets and plants and burst unprotected pipes.  

Now is the time to wrap outdoor faucets and exposed pipes.  Drain sprinkler systems and bare outdoor water pipes.  Cover vulnerable house plants or move them indoors.  Pets should be indoors in temperatures and wind chills this low.  Any pets left outside are at risk of death.  Pets and livestock left outside should have adequate shelter and access to plenty of water and food.  Leaving pets unprotected outside in this kind of weather of cruel.  

Cruelty to animals is a crime.  

While this strong Arctic cold front will be dangerous, it will be dry.  No precipitation is expected with the passage of this front.  

The Concho Valley will see a warming trend throughout the week beginning Tuesday.  The area remains in an extremely dry weather pattern as drought conditions worsen.  There is a ban on all outdoor burning in Tom Green County and the surrounding counties and there is no rain in the forecast at this time.