Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Severe weather season over for the Mid-South?

Looks like the Mid-South severe weather season, which typically encompasses April and May may have gone out with a bang following last Wednesday's High Risk event.  After a couple of cool days, Memorial Day weekend hit and the heat is ON!  The official high on Saturday was nearly 20 degrees warmer than Friday and it hasn't relented since - and won't anytime soon according to the MWN Forecast.

We can thank strong high pressure at the surface and aloft, a rising sun angle, and climatology for the hot weather.  Though it typically warms up nicely around Memorial Day, this year's late May/early June pattern has left us with temperatures that are about 10 degrees above normal and will be approaching record category by week's end.  In fact, the dreaded "heat index" is back over a several-month hiatus, as the air "feels like" 100+ beginning tomorrow.  Even a weak cold front over us tonight will do almost nothing to help stifle the heat.  High temps in the 90s will last into early next week!  The strong ridge of high pressure likely means the beginning of summer and fewer chances of severe weather. Remember though that summer doesn't mean there won't be severe weather, just as temps in the 90s now doesn't guarantee that all summer will be like this week!

Upper-level high pressure ridge directly over the Mid-South late Wednesday
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