Thursday, August 4, 2011

Area Forecast

    Cold front pushed well south of our area last night & into the Tennessee Valley this morning. Plenty of low level moisture still lingering over the mountains provides some morning fog & mostly cloudy skies. Some clearing is expected today as high pressure tries to break up that cloud cover. Haze will linger throughout most of the day. High pressure will gain better control over the Great Lakes region overnight, setting up another foggy night for the Mountain State.

    Cold frontal passage has not done much to relieve the heat and humidity though. With highs in the mid 80s and dew points around 70, our heat index will stay in the mid 90s. We'll stay dry today & tonight under mostly clear skies. Things will stay muggy with lows in the upper 60s overnight.

    Frontal boundary will lift back north as a warm front Friday. We'll keep a dry forecast with above average temps Friday. However, low level moisture will sneak back into our area and hot & humid conditions will persist into the weekend. This will provide ample opportunity for rain showers and a few thunderstorms Friday night through the weekend. Main threat for our area will potential for heavy downpours, mainly Saturday.

    Temps this weekend...Daytime highs will be in the upper 80s. Lows will only fall to the low 70s. Another cold front will cross the Great Lakes Sunday night & Monday. So we'll keep the threat for rain showers & thunderstorms Sunday & Monday. High pressure will build into the region by Tuesday. Another round of wet weather arrives by Wednesday.

   Tropical Storm Emily is forecast to be off the southern Atlantic coast by Monday. Although threats to the Us mainland are limited, Emily will disrupt surf, making for potentially dangerous surf conditions for the first half of next week. Beach-goers will observe 6-8 foot waves this weekend and next week. The storm will then race northeast & dissipate in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.