Weather Blog: Calmer Weather Ahead For Green Country

Dick Faurot's Weather Blog

After the very active period of the last week or so, the more benign pattern that is setting up during the coming week will provide a nice break. That is not to say that we have no chance of showers or storms, just that they will be few and far between over the next week or more. Our next best chance of rain still looks to be on Tuesday when a weak frontal boundary will make a run at us. The front itself is expected to come up a little short, but will likely provide at least a slight chance of showers or storms; a few of which would likely be severe with hail and damaging winds the primary threats.

So, without much in the way of any cooling shower activity and with very lush, green vegetation, it will be hot and humid. Dew point temperatures yesterday were in the low 70s but had mixed out into the mid-upper 60s by this morning. Given the wet soils, high evapo-transpiration, and gusty southerly winds, look for the dew point to remain well into the 60s if not the lower 70s at times. Together with daytime highs in the upper 80s and even lower 90s, this combination of heat and moisture will result in heat index values another 4-8 degrees above the air temperature. Since most of us are not used to that yet, caution is advised with the outdoor activities.

The winds will provide pretty good ventilation over the next few days as they will be quite gusty and from the south. Look for wind speeds to be on the order of 20-30 mph with higher gusts this afternoon and again on Monday. This is due to a strong system that will be lifting out of the southern Rockies which will tighten the surface pressure gradient, thus the strong southerly winds. Most of the energy with that system will be well north and west of us which is where the better chance of storms will be.

After that, ridging aloft will be building overhead and the surface pressure gradient will relax through the latter part of the week. We will still have brisk southerly winds keeping us hot and humid, just not as strong as today and Monday will be. Also, an isolated shower or storm is not out of the question on any given day, but otherwise, it will be hot and humid.

So, stay cool, stay tuned, and check back for updates.