The upcoming week will certainly be hot, just not as hot. The tradeoff is increased shower and thunderstorm coverage.

Today and Tonight: Rinse, repeat, and sweat again today with high in the low 90s, scattered showers and thunderstorms, and an ever-present humidity. A small but positive note is that temperatures have normalized as a result of the breakdown of last week’s ridge of high pressure. That is also why rain has moved into the scattered category. About 50-60% of the 13 Parish, 3 County forecast area will receive a shower or thunderstorm today. Overnight, action eases as lows move back into the mid 70s.

Up Next:  A similar pattern will be carried through Wednesday before we taper those rain chances a bit toward the end of the week. However, at least a slim chance of rain remains in the forecast every day. The tropics are still quiet, so that's also good news. No development is expected within the next several days.

THE SCIENCE:

Forecast Discussion: A weakness in the upper pattern is allowing lapse rates to be sufficient for scattered convective development. Cell movement has been very slow, so locations receiving thunderstorms today are likely to have downpours and a quick full of rain gauges. Locations that see a little less in the way of convection will have slightly warmer temperatures. There really isn't a lot of change in the forecast scenario with scattered to numerous thunderstorms each day through midweek. Storms have been firing early thanks to convective temperatures remaining in the mid to upper 80s, along with water temperatures in that same range. Rain coverage will remain in the 60-70% range each day. Slightly drier air may arrive next weekend with slightly lower rain chances, but little significant change in the upper air pattern is expected.

--Josh

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