KATC StormTeam 3 Weather BLOG

The coolest night of the season is on tap as winds relax allowing for optimal radiational cooling by morning.  This will translate to temperatures dropping into the mid-30s north of the I-10 corridor by morning while temperatures range in the mid-upper 30s across Lafayette and near 40 along the coast.  So don’t be surprised if you see some patchy frost by morning, and you may want to cover the tender vegetation just in case.  Milder weather will on tap for Friday and the weekend with mostly sunny skies tomorrow and partly to mostly cloudy skies this weekend.  Highs will be in the mid-upper 60s tomorrow spanning into the mid-upper 70s this weekend.  A few spotty showers will be possible by Sunday with unsettled weather and the chance of showers for much of next week.  It will stay seasonably mild to warm through next Wednesday with a nice cool down expected for Thanksgiving and for the rest of the holiday weekend.

Comet Holmes continues to expand in brightness and size and now is the largest object in our solar system measuring about 1 million miles in diameter which is larger than the sun!  Check out the information at www.spaceweather.com for the latest information and how to locate the fuzz ball in the sky.  You’ll probably need binoculars or a small telescope to see it, but reports have coming in that you can see it with the naked eye especially if you can get away from the city lights.  With clear skies tonight we should get a good look at it!

Our strong cool front will sweep across the area around midnight tonight ushering in very gusty winds and much cooler temperatures.  A few showers and gusty winds will announce the front tonight with winds likely gusting over 30mph by morning.  Tomorrow will be sunny, windy and cool with highs in the mid-upper 60s, and like the last front, I wouldn’t be surprised to see dusty skies (some dust from the plains states) dulling the sunshine a little tomorrow.  Cold conditions will be likely tomorrow night with the mercury dropping into the upper 30s by Friday morning.  Friday will be mostly sunny and cool with milder conditions and some clouds returning for Saturday.  By Sunday and for much of next week we will enter into an unsettled pattern with a slow-moving upper low meandering across the area through Thanksgiving.  This means plenty of clouds and scattered showers with mild temperatures for much of next week.  It appears now that the next cool-down will come by next Friday or the following weekend, but before that I would expect a good soaking for next Friday…give or take a day or two.  We do need the rain, but it won’t be the best of weather for the holiday break. 

A strong cool front will sweep across the area Wednesday night bringing with it a few widely scattered showers and then significantly cooler and breezy conditions for Thursday.  Look out for fog again for tonight; although parameters are not as favorable for thick fog development as it was last night, we could still see some dense patches.  Wednesday will be another warm one with mostly sunny skies with temperatures topping out in the low-mid 80s…as warm as it gets this time of year.  Thursday and Friday will be sunny and cool with highs in the mid-upper 60s while lows cool into the lower 40s by Friday morning.  Clouds will return this weekend with the threat of scattered showers by late Saturday, Saturday night and into Sunday.  It looks mild for early next week with another good shot of chilly or colder air, in time for Thanksgiving!  Stay tuned…

An unsettled weather pattern typical of early November will continue across Acadiana over the next several days.  An upper disturbance that produced widely scattered showers today will depart the region tonight with variable cloudiness, a few isolated showers and warmer than normal temperatures continuing through Wednesday.  Since overnight temperatures will remain in the low-mid 60s with a light southerly flow coming off the Gulf, be on the lookout for some patchy fog again tonight and tomorrow night.  A moderate cool front will traverse the area Wednesday night into Thursday morning with scattered showers a bet preceding and accompanying the front by Thursday morning.  Skies should clear for Thursday afternoon with cooler temperatures getting closer to where they should be for this time of year.  The weekend could get unsettled and eventually wet as an upper system ejects eastward from the SW U.S.  Temperatures will return to at or slightly above normal for the weekend into early next week.  The long range models do indicate cooler/colder temperatures for the last week of the month, but right now it looks like above normal temperatures may persist through Thanksgiving…hopefully it will change before then!   

Mid-level clouds have moved in as a result of moisture overriding cool air. These clouds have been hard pressed to dissipate and will hold our temperatures up a few more degrees tonight. As high pressure slides east of us, humidity will continue to increase through the weekend. Rain chances finally come back as a few weak upper level lows move through. Winds offshore will be increasing Saturday afternoon and evening so best time to go fishing will be Friday and Saturday morning. 

Veterans’ Day, we will still have a chance of scattered light rain before a cold front passes Wednesday. Hopefully between now and then we will get at least a little rain. Drough outlooks are looking about right with the lack of any significant weather systems in the next couple of weeks. At least the tropics are quieting down for the time being but the official end of hurricane season is still a few weeks away.

Enjoy your weekend!

Kari Hall

A shot of winter is moving in for tonight with temperatures dropping to the 40 degree mark.  Breezy northerly winds should keep the atmosphere mixed up thereby keeping us out of the upper 30s for tonight.  Breezy northeast winds will continue tomorrow but will diminish for tomorrow evening setting the stage for ideal radiational cooling.  That means temperatures could drop into the upper 30s.  It will feel colder tonight with the northerly winds producing wind chills in the low-mid 30s first thing tomorrow morning so bundle the kids up! Moderating temperatures and high clouds will be advancing into the area Friday with partly cloudy and mild conditions this weekend.  This weekend could bring morning fog back to the region and possibly enough moisture by Sunday for a few isolated showers.  A significant weather system will develop in the plains early next week possibly giving us a good chance of showers and thunderstorms by next Monday night.  This next system should have ample moisture and some jet stream dynamics with it so there will be the possibility of severe weather, but a lot can change between now and then.  Remember that our secondary severe weather season (including tornadic activity) does come in November, so stay tuned. 

In other news, the Space Shuttle will be landing tomorrow. 

The landing ground tracks indicate that the first opportunity will bring the shuttle over Arkansas, but the second one would be over Acadiana.  Since the shuttle is coming in during the day we won’t be able to see the plasma stream, but we could hear the sonic boom on the first opportunity roughly before noon tomorrow, if it comes in on the second option we’ll certainly be able to here the sonic boom around 1:30pm tomorrow afternoon.  Check out NASA TV tomorrow for the very latest.  

A fairly strong cool front will approach the area tomorrow morning bring some clouds, a few isolated early morning showers, then breezy and much cooler conditions with clearing skies for tomorrow afternoon.  Look out for some patchy fog developing again later tonight, but the fog will likely lift around daybreak as the front comes barreling through.  Highs tomorrow will be confined to the upper 60s to lower 70s while lows drop into the “cold” zone (at least for us) into the lower 40s.  Sunny and cool conditions will prevail Wednesday and Thursday with moderating temperatures and partly cloudy skies anticipated Friday into the weekend.  Rain chances after tomorrow morning will remain slight until another front arrives on Monday.  The quality and quantity of moisture available next Monday remains in question, so it looks like our drier then normal weather will continue. 

Incidentally, with the La Nina pattern kicking in for this winter, we would expect drier than normal conditions across the region through February with above normal temperatures.  There is a fairly good signal that drought conditions will develop across the area over the next few months.

We’re back!  After a server issue we are back up and blogging!  Weather-wise we remain in a beautiful fall pattern, albeit a little too dry.  Nonetheless our “Chamber of Commerce” weather will continue into the weekend and for much of next week.  Expect mostly sunny skies and seasonably warm conditions for our Friday.  It will get slightly cooler as a weak frontal boundary (actually another ridge of high pressure) will bridge across the area for the weekend lowering our highs by about 5 degrees and bringing the lows back into the upper 40s to lower 50s for Saturday and Sunday nights.  Another front, again with limited moisture, will sweep across the area for Tuesday bring even cooler conditions for later next week.  It does look like we’ll see more unsettled weather for next Friday into the weekend with the chance of some shower activity developing.  In the tropics, Noel is now beginning to accelerate to the NNE and may parallel much of the east coast bring a significant wind threat from the North Carolina coast through New England as the storm becomes a large extratropical cyclone.  Interestingly enough storms will likely threaten the Canadian Maritimes and could reach Greenland by Monday!

Since our weather has been so sedate we have the opportunity to see a comet in Acadiana!  You’ll need binoculars or a telescope to see it, but last night I had little problems finding it just scanning the skies with my binoculars.  Comet Holmes is located in the constellation Perseus (see graphic).  Although I can’t pick Perseus out of the sky, I did fin it easier by locating Pleiades (the Seven Sister star cluster) and Cassiopeia (the big “W”).  Jay Faugot sent this picture in from his telescope.  Through binoculars this won’t look like a traditional comet with a tail, but it will look like a fur-ball!  You can get more information and pictures at www.spaceweather.com.  Happy viewing!