FINAL DAYS OF SUMMER TO BE H-O-T… We officially kick off the Autumn/Fall season on Saturday and temperatures look to remain hot today, Friday, and into the weekend. There will be a few pop-up thunderstorms across the region today and in the days ahead, but severe weather issues are not expected. The tropics remain quiet but there is one area of concern in the Atlantic that we’re watching. We also continue to look at the long range model idea of some cooler air coming in around October 1. Let’s talk details…
POP-UP STORMS TODAY & FRIDAY… Just like previous days, some locales will inevitably have rain before the end of the day on this Thursday. Temperatures will peak in the low- to mid-90s this afternoon with heat index values maxxing out between 100-105. Some of the thunderstorms will produce heavy rain, lots of lightning, and maybe even gusty winds at times. Have a way to check the radar this afternoon into this evening. redzoneweather.com/radar is the link to check it on the web or you can tap the “Radar” tab in the RedZone Weather app.
TROPICAL WAVE EAST OF ANTILLES… The Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea remain quiet and void of any significant tropical activity. Good news! We are watching one tropical wave situated about 1,000 miles east of Trinidad & Tobago in the tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The National Hurricane Center says there is a 10% chance that this system develops into a tropical storm as it moves northwest over the next 5 days. We’ll keep watching, but development looks unlikely as of now. We also note that the remnants of Hurricane Florence have moved off of the Atlantic coast of the U.S. and are back over the open waters of the Atlantic. Some models indicate that these remnants may develop AGAIN once they move about 1,500 miles away from the U.S. No land impacts would be expected, if that scenario pans out.
LONG RANGE IDEA OF COOLER AIR… The Global Forecast System (GFS) and its ensemble model members continue to advertise the potential for some slightly cooler air sneaking into our local area from the north in about 10 days. While I always caution that anything past the 7 day mark is unreliable, this trend has been consistent. This likely would not be MAJOR cold air, but just a brief, nice “cool off” compared to the temperatures we’ve had this summer. High temperatures would likely be in the low-80s with morning lows in the 50s/60s. I’ll let you know more as I know more based on the latest data.
Let me know if you have any weather-related questions. Have a wonderful Thursday!