We have managed to get a few storms out there, but rain coverage has been 10% or less this afternoon. Temperatures have once again reached 100 degrees in Lafayette.
A RED FLAG WARNING remains in effect as winds stay elevated and drought conditions worsen. We’ll see if the National Weather Service reissues this warning for tomorrow.
The high pressure is only going to build further south tomorrow and Thursday. This will bring in some of the hottest temperatures we’ve seen yet and we could threaten all-time record highs. The all-time record high temperature for Lafayette is 107 degrees, set back in July of 1901, so we could come close to this number on Thursday.
My forecast calls for a high of 104 degrees and 106 degrees Wednesday and Thursday respectively. Reaching these high temperatures will depend on storm activity. Models do try to show storm activity Thursday afternoon, which would normally curb the heating process and lower the high temperature of the day. For this reason, I’m skeptical we hit 107 degrees, and thinking we’ll likely settle in around 105-106 degrees. If we hit 107 degrees it will tie the record for the hottest temperature ever recorded in Lafayette. The European model, which has a high temperature of 108 degrees, has us breaking the record, but I won’t go quite that high with my temperature. I’m with everyone hoping the European model is wrong!
The ridge of high pressure looks like it could shift further westward by the end of this week and the weekend. It’ll still be hot, with highs in the triple digits, but rain chances could increase into the 30-40% range Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday of next week!
TROPICS
The Tropics remain active as we’ve taken several names off the list the past two days. We saw Emily fizzle across the Atlantic, Franklin continues to move northward from the Caribbean possibly becoming a hurricane over the open waters of the Atlantic, Gert has died out across the Atlantic, and Harold moved inland across Texas this morning as a tropical storm.
Models hint at more activity development through the next two weeks, so it appears the busy times will continue.
