Coming out of a more active shower and storm stretch, the end of the week will also feature slightly lower humidity.

THE FORECAST:

Today and Tonight: Much drier weather is expected for Wednesday. Skies will be partly to mostly sunny with only an isolated afternoon shower possible. Highs will be in the low 90s. Overnight, skies will be mostly clear with lows around 70. One noteworthy change from usual—humidity should be a bit lower.  

Up Next: Thursday will be warm, but drier. With a brief break from oppressive humidity, we can still expect highs in the low 90s beneath mostly sunny skies. Friday will be mainly dry as well though an isolated shower can’t be ruled out late in the day. By the weekend, better chances of rain and storms return to the forecast. It is always important to reiterate that with many venturing outdoors for college football season, be alert to lightning. If you can hear thunder, you are close enough to be struck and should head inside to be safe. A tailgate tent IS NOT an adequate shelter from lightning! Temperatures will be close to normal with highs in the low 90s and lows in the low 70s.  

The Tropics: It is a little quieter in the tropics Wednesday Morning. Hermine has dissipated off of the Northeast U.S. Coast while Tropical Storm Newton is bringing rain to the Desert Southwest. A new wave has pushed off the African Coast and is given a 70 percent chance of development over the next five days.  

THE SCIENCE:Forecast Discussion:  A surface high pressure nudging into the Southeastern United States is helping a weak backdoor cold front through the area. Much of the energy has been displaced west toward the Atchafalaya Basin and the Texas border and therefore, only isolated showers and thunderstorms are expected this afternoon, mainly west of I-55. With that front pressing west, dew points may slide just a bit into Thursday. Falling from the low 70s to upper 60s, it is likely that we’ll notice a drop in humidity. It will remain hot though. The area of high pressure will keep generally fair weather through Friday before southeast winds return low level moisture, humidity and eventually afternoon showers and thunderstorms for the weekend. A cold front sagging southeast across the United States may bring some additional forcing to enhance shower and thunderstorm development as well. Obviously, with many people heading outside for weekend tailgating over the next few weeks, we’ll need to be aware of the possibility of lightning.

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