Heat and Fire Danger Continues
FIRE DANGER RETURNS
Winds stayed up through the night, staying around 10-15 mph with a few gust getting just over 20mph. Though the winds won't be as strong as yesterday we are still expecting wind gust in the 25mph range this afternoon. The tinder-dry conditions combined with a steady south wind 15-20mph will quickly fan any flame that gets started. There is some light rain around this morning but no lightning
MORE HOT WEATHER
Clouds and sprinkles around this morning should clear out a little faster than the past couple of days. This means a hotter noon time temperature (around 98°) than the last two days. Today marks the 65th time we'll have a hundred degree day. We are forecasting a high of 103° under mostly sunny skies. The wind will start to pick up around mid-day and stay up through early evening.
SEPTEMBER STARTS HOT
We keep the 100 degree run going on Thursday, it'll be mostly sunny with a high in the low 100's. I expect Friday to hit 100 degrees as well. That will make 66 and 67 100 degree days. The record is 69 set back in the brutal hot summer of 1980.
AND OF COURSE, THE HOLIDAY
Weather pattern changes are still in the works with a cold front arriving on Sunday. On Saturday some cloud cover should keep highs under 100 degrees and end the count for awhile if not for the year. There is a slight chance of rain on Saturday, especially late in the day as the approaching front starts to pull up some Gulf moisture.
ANOTHER TROPICAL SYSTEM
And there will be abundant Gulf moisture… a tropical system will be spinning up out in the open water just south of New Orleans starting Friday. This system is going to produce copious rain amounts for the coastal region from Houston over to Mobile for the holiday weekend. It appears the bulk of this system will pass east of the parched Lone Star state as we start next week. As heartbreaking as this is we'll still have a decent chance of rain (30%) from all this on Sunday and early Monday.
The biggest effect of Sunday's cold front will be the cooler weather. Highs on Sunday will stay in the mid-90's, drop to the low 90's on Monday and Tuesday. We shall welcome the cooler weather
