Still no measurable precipitation at the Lafayette Regional Airport, our official recording site here in Lafayette. Although we’ve see a few stray showers pop up over the past few days, none have reached the official station…nor have they reached TV3. This makes 25 straight days with no rainfall, and today is day 26! Another record was set on Sunday as the mercury soared to 99 degrees, breaking the old record of 98 set back in 1954.
Today there is a bit of hope for some rain here at home! A stationary front is draped across central Louisiana this morning and should drift to about the I-10 corridor by this afternoon. Already this morning during the pre-dawn hours a thunderstorm developed over Allen Parish and drifted southwestward before dissipating near Lake Charles. If the air mass is unstable enough to support a storm with no daytime heating, imagine what we could see later today with a front in place to act as the triggering mechanism. Today I’m going with a 40% chance for rain, which is the highest rain chance I’ve had in my forecast all month long. Hopefully our luck will improve today, because tomorrow and Wednesday look to much drier once again.
The tropical wave that was producing showers and storms over the western Caribbean this weekend, has moved over the Yucatan and has fallen apart. Still some showers and thunderstorms persist near that area, but the trough is over land, and no development is expected there. There is also a flare up of storms near the Bahamas. These are firing up along a stationary boundary that has pushed off the east coast. No development is expected, but it will be monitored for the next day or so. There is also an upper level low pressure area over the mid Atlantic, but remember…tropical systems are low pressure at the surface, not high up in the atmosphere. Water temperatures where tropical systems normally develop during the early part of July are just about normal. There are a couple of hot spots (over 88 degrees) near Puerto Rico, around Key West, and in the shallow waters of the continental shelf off of the Louisiana coastline. Don’t worry, that’s not anything unusual..nor will it have any impact on the future forecast for the rest of the season. Good luck with the rain!!! -Baker