textproduct: Austin/San Antonio

KEY MESSAGES

- Dry weather with above normal temperatures through the end of this week. A brief cooling trend follows into early next week.

- Elevated fire weather conditions Rio Grande plains and Hill Country through Friday; Elevated to near critical fire weather conditions for most of the region Saturday and Sunday.

SHORT TERM

(Tonight through Thursday night) Issued at 1205 PM CST Wed Feb 18 2026

Above normal temperatures will persist through the short term portion of the forecast as high temperatures peak in the 80s to near 90 degrees today and Thursday. Overnight lows will be in the mid 50s to mid 60s tonight, with lower 50s to lower 60s tomorrow night. The slightly lower temperatures Thursday night into Friday morning will be due to some drier air across portions of the Hill Country and southern Edwards Plateau region.

LONG TERM

(Friday through next Wednesday) Issued at 1205 PM CST Wed Feb 18 2026

Above normal temperatures continue into Saturday, but we will see the beginning of a cooling trend develop as a cold front pushes into the region very late Friday night into Saturday morning. Gusty north winds are anticipated behind the cold front across all areas on Saturday, with gusty conditions favored for areas near and east of I-35 on Sunday. Temperatures will ease back closer to climatological normals for Sunday into Monday with highs mainly in the 60s and overnight lows in the mid 30s to mid 40s.

Southerly winds return on Tuesday and will be gusty during the late morning and afternoon hours. Another dryline/Pacific front combination may move in on Wednesday. However, we have seen some disagreement among the 12Z operational models and prefer to keep the warming trend going as we head into the middle of next week.

AVIATION

(00Z TAFS) Issued at 516 PM CST Wed Feb 18 2026

VFR conditions prevail across local area airports through at least 05Z Thursday. Then, MVFR to IFR to LIFR conditions are forecast for the overnight hours through late Thursday morning. There is a medium to high confidence of cigs lowering to 1000ft or below late tonight through late Thursday morning. As far as visibilities, there is a larger range of probabilities from 1/4 mile to 5 miles for KAUS, KSAT, and KSSF. With better signals along the I-35 sites, we are going for 2 miles for now with other changes possible later tonight. For KDRT, VFR conditions are forecast for most of the period with a short window around 12Z for cigs to lower to IFR category. All sites should return to VFR by 18Z Thursday. A wind shift from the south to northwest to the north is in store late Thursday morning into the afternoon as a dry line pushes into the I-35 corridor.

FIRE WEATHER

Issued at 1205 PM CST Wed Feb 18 2026

Minimum humidities drop to near 20% this afternoon across portions of the Rio Grande plains and Hill Country as a dryline lingers over the region. The dryline briefly surges back to the north and west tonight allowing for good to excellent humidity recovery. The dryline pushes eastward toward the I-35 corridor on Thursday, bringing some elevated fire weather conditions to the Rio Grande plains and Hill Country due to low humidity levels in the teens. Minimum humidity levels in the teens to near 20 percent are expected Friday afternoon over the southern Edwards Plateau and nearby Rio Grande plains. A cold front moves in from the west late Friday into early Saturday, bringing dry air and gusty north winds to all areas Saturday into Sunday.

PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS

Austin Camp Mabry 64 84 59 80 / 0 0 0 0 Austin Bergstrom Intl Airport 63 84 58 80 / 0 0 0 0 New Braunfels Muni Airport 61 84 59 80 / 0 0 0 0 Burnet Muni Airport 60 80 54 78 / 0 0 0 0 Del Rio Intl Airport 56 86 56 87 / 0 0 0 0 Georgetown Muni Airport 64 83 56 79 / 0 0 0 0 Hondo Muni Airport 59 86 58 84 / 0 0 0 0 San Marcos Muni Airport 62 85 59 82 / 0 0 0 0 La Grange - Fayette Regional 66 82 61 80 / 0 0 0 10 San Antonio Intl Airport 63 84 61 82 / 0 0 0 0 Stinson Muni Airport 63 86 61 83 / 0 0 0 0

EWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

None.