Wednesday PM Forecast: saturated areas in for more soaking rain
Many locations in the viewing area have received at least 1-3 inches of rain this week. A few spots closer to Addis and Gardere as well as Liberty in southwest Mississippi have picked up 4-6 inches as estimated by radar.
Next 24 Hours: Like the last several days, any leftover showers will end after nightfall with gradual clearing in skies. Low temperatures will end up in the low to mid 70s. On Thursday, widespread showers and thunderstorms can be expected again. Action is possible from dawn to dusk but the trend over the last few days suggest that once you get a heavy dose, any second round should be much lighter due to much of the energy in the atmosphere being used. Downpours could lead to some street and poor drainage flooding. High temperatures will stay in the mid to upper 80s thanks to the earlier onset of clouds, showers and thunderstorms.
We are often talking about those rain chances or percentages on the forecast board often seen during the warm season. Here is a quick reminder about what those mean for the WBRZ Weather 13 Parish, 3 County forecast area.
10-30% - Isolated: a few locations receive measurable rain
30-60% - Scattered: part to half of the area receives measurable rain
60-100% - Widespread: almost all of the area receives measurable rain
Keep in mind, those chances tell nothing about timing. For instance, 100% DOES NOT mean it will rain all day. We will be sure to provide information in our forecasts as to when you can expect rain when chances are on the board. MORE: https://www.wbrz.com/news/a-chance-to-remember
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Up Next: Slightly drier air (though still above average) may work into the region on Friday thereby returning showers and thunderstorms to the more typical rhythm of afternoon and evening. This will be short-lived though and well above average moisture will build into the atmosphere Saturday through the middle of next week. As a result, scattered to widespread showers and thunderstorms will be possible around the forecast area daily. Saturated areas will need to be monitored for cumulative rainfall totals allowing flood issues to develop a bit more quickly than usual. As far as temperatures go, lows will be close to average in the low to mid 70s and highs will be slightly below average in the upper 80s and low 90s. CLICK HERE for your detailed 7-Day Forecast.
The Tropics: The Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean are quiet. No tropical development is expected over the next five days.
The Explanation: The local area remains trapped between an upper level ridge of high pressure to the west and another to the east. The relative weakness in between the two ridges has been creating instability over the Gulf Coast. Additionally, the value, which we use to assess overall moisture in the atmosphere, known as precipitable water, remains well above average. Therefore, another healthy crop of heavy thunderstorms is expected on Thursday. There are some signs it will retreat toward normal by the end of the week, owing to slightly less action on Friday but surely not a full shut down in convection. The showers and thunderstorms that do develop should be more limited to the afternoon hours--as is typical for the time of year. The briefly "drier" conditions on Friday won't last long with precipitable water chugging well above average again by Saturday afternoon or Sunday. This will bring a return to higher and longer coverage of showers and thunderstorms into the middle of next week.
--Josh
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