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Spotty Storms Return Today and The Tropics Are Active

Short Term Forecast:  It is a warm and muggy start to this Tuesday.  We have mostly clear skies with some patchy fog and temperatures are in the 70s.


We will have another hot afternoon as a ridge of high pressure builds toward Louisiana from the west.  At the same time, a weak disturbance will move along the eastern-edge of the ridge, or right over Louisiana.  Moisture will be increasing a little more today as well.  This means we will be partly cloudy with spotty to isolated showers and thunderstorms.  Not all of you will see the rain, but there is a higher chance of rain today verses yesterday.  High temperatures will be in the lower 90s.

Any rain will dissipate by 9 PM and then we will be left with some lingering clouds.  It will be a warm and muggy night with lows in the lower 70s.

Week Ahead:  The ridge of high pressure will build over the Deep South on Wednesday, but it will start to retreat back to the west on Thursday and Friday.  What does this mean for our weather?  We will be partly cloudy with only a slight chance of a shower Wednesday through Friday.  It will be hot and humid with highs in the lower 90s and lows in the lower 70s each day and night.


Weekend Outlook:  The ridge will continue to build back to the west this weekend.  At the same time, a trough of low pressure will set up along the East Coast.  This will send a weak cold front into the Deep South, but it will not impact our weather very much.  Also, a tropical wave is forecast to develop into an area of low pressure in the Bay of Campeche, and this will send some tropical moisture our way.  Therefore, we will be partly cloudy with spotty to isolated showers and thunderstorms this weekend.  Highs will be in the lower 90s and lows in the lower 70s.

Tropical Outlook:  Today is the peak of the Hurricane Season and it is living up to its name!  Tropical Storm Gabrielle has come back to life this morning!  It got stronger last night and regained tropical storm strength.  It is located 185 miles south of Bermuda with 40 mph winds.  It is moving to the north at 14 mph and will track over Bermuda in the next day.  It is forecast to get a little stronger, but stay a tropical storm and it will not impact the U.S.


Tropical Storm Humberto continues to get stronger and is forecast to become the 1st hurricane of the 2013 season.  It is located near the Cape Verde Islands with 65 mph winds.  It is expected to become a hurricane later today.  This means it will not set the record for the latest forming hurricane.  Humberto will track out at sea as it moves to the WNW at 9 mph and then turns north on Wednesday.  It is expected to become a Category 2 storm sometime Wednesday.


Lastly, there is a tropical wave located over the NW Caribbean.  It will move over the Yucatan Peninsula between today and Wednesday.  Then it is expected to emerge over the Bay of Campeche by Thursday.  Forecast models show that this wave will develop into an area of low pressure, and it could become a tropical depression as well.  NHC is giving this system a high chance of becoming a tropical cyclone during the next 5 days.  Fortunately, it looks like it will track to the west and make a "landfall" over Mexico.  This is thanks to the ridge of high pressure and trough of low pressure over the U.S.  Those features are keeping the low well south of the U.S.

Elsewhere...the rest of the tropics are quiet.

Take the umbrella with you just in case you run into a shower.  Have a great day! -Dave

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