Thursday, June 25, 2015

Thunder escorts much-welcomed cooler weather this weekend

Who's ready for cooler weather??


Wish granted! A very hot week featuring Heat Advisories and heat index values of 105-110° is coming to an end with one more hot day tomorrow (but not quite as bad as the rest of the week). The reason for slightly lower temperatures Friday will be more cloud cover and a few thunderstorms in the afternoon. Humidity levels will remain high, so heat indices will be in the lower 100s.

By tomorrow night, an unusual cold front (for summertime) will push into - and through - the Mid-South. This front will bring a high chance of thunderstorms with most in the Mid-South seeing a half inch to one inch of rain overnight. There is also a small chance that severe weather could occur, mainly in the form of damaging wind and, secondarily, large hail. The metro is currently in a Marginal Risk (category 1 of 5) zone, while areas just to our north are in a Slight Risk (2 of 5).


Most of the storms and rainfall will occur after dark Friday night, but if you have outdoor plans during the evening, you'll want to keep a close eye on StormView Radar and our Twitter feed via the MWN mobile app as storms could affect your plans.

By Saturday morning, rain should be over and, though it will be a warm start to the day with lows in the low 70s, much cooler and drier air will filter in throughout the day on a dare-I-say "refreshing" north breeze. As clouds move out, look for temperatures to peak about 10 degrees cooler than Friday, in the lower 80s. In addition, dewpoints (a measure of atmospheric humidity) will fall into the low 60s, making for a very pleasant afternoon and evening.

Very unusual for late June - a cold front diving all the way to the Gulf Coast as shown by the NOAA Surface Analysis forecast for Sunday morning.

Sunday will feature more pleasant weather with low humidity, sunny skies, and highs once again in the 80s. A slight warming trend takes place next week, but with rain chances increasing once again, looks for highs to remain primarily in the 80s with lows in the lower 70s.


Erik Proseus
MWN Meteorologist

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