Literally! When the rain came in, cool breezes ahead of the storms dropped the temperatures from a record setting 101, back into the 70s across Acadiana. But not just some cool breezes, some pretty gusty winds came in with those storms. Rob indicating that Acadiana Regional Airport clocked a wind gust over 60mph between 5 and 5:30 yesterday afternoon. I believe it! I was driving along LA88 near Coteau at 5:15. The rain was torrential, and when the wind kicked in, I had about 10 feet of visibility! When I passed ARA about 5 minutes before, I could tell the wind was going to be strong as I could see the downdrafts pushing forward out of the storm, and the drought dust was lifting high prior to the rain settling it down. Once the storms pushed away, the temperatures settled into the 70s overnight, and for the first time in recent memory the heat index this morning was under 80 degrees! And my air conditioner kicked off while I was getting ready dark and early this morning. Almost as pleasant of a feeling as the cold breeze!
Fortunately a large part of the region got a healthy dose of rainfall. Today will dry out again as the trough settles into the Gulf and dissipates. Expect dry and hot weather for Wednesday and Thursday too.
As we move toward the weekend, including the 4th of July holiday. The ridge will break down again as another trough will drop down from the Ohio Valley. This should allow a few more afternoon storms to develop Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Hopefully this will drop our high temperatures closer to normal. But still steer clear of fireworks and BBQ’s.
Tropics remain quiet! -Baker