Wintry mix possible this week

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Yet another in an ongoing series of El Nino-influenced storm systems is heading for Texas. Despite Tuesday's sunshine, a rapid return to cloudy, cold, wet weather is forecast for Wednesday. A winter mix of rain, sleet, and snow is even possible over the next couple of days.

The storm battering California now will begin pulling moist air into Central Texas Tuesday night. Skies will become overcast by morning, which will keep temperatures in the low to mid 40s Wednesday.

Drizzle and light rain could begin by afternoon, with the possibility of some sleet or snow by Wednesday night into early Thursday morning. Warmer temperatures during the day Thursday should keep the precipitation in liquid form, though another transition to a rain/snow mix will be possible again late Thursday, into early Friday morning, before the storm exits our area.

Snow and ice accumulation is not expected in the Austin area, however, parts of the Hill Country and other areas north and west of Austin could see a light dusting.

It has been a wild winter from the west to east coasts, and El Nino is to blame. Warmer than normal Eastern Pacific waters are fueling storms across the country.

These storms start in the tropical Pacific and slam straight into the west coast. Californians who are used to more mild winters have been dealing with severe storms. Even now, Southern California residents in mud-ravaged foothill towns are packing up and evacuating as yet another winter storm rolls into Southern California.

"These big storms crashing into California," said Bob Rose, LCRA Meteorologist. "Very typical of El Nino. These storms originate in the Pacific. They get really energized by the warm water of the tropical Pacific."

During an El Nino, the subtropical jet stream strengthens. The storms ride the subtropical jet, taking them across California and right into Texas.

"As a result, we've seen numerous rain storms move across our area," said Rose.

The combination of El Nino moisture and cold temperatures brought Central Texas some unusual sleet and snow flurries this winter.

As these storms continued their easterly push, they wreaked havoc across the East Coast including last weekend's monster blizzard dubbed the "snow-pocalypse "

"Conditions were just right," said Rose. "It was a vigorous system and cold air out in the Atlantic to produce a fantastic snow storm out in the mid Atlantic region.

As we have seen, this El Nino is powerful, dramatically changing the weather. In fact, this El Nino is the fourth strongest on record.

"You have to think globally," said Rose. "You can't just think about the weather just over Texas or even North America. This is a global phenomenon that involves the Pacific Ocean and the atmosphere that's all around us."

Get up-to-date information on the weather conditions on the KXAN Weather Blog.