A very unusual cool front moved through the area over the weekend bringing slightly cooler air and lower humidities for much of Sunday and the early part of today. Sunday’s high was only 88 degrees, 3 degrees cooler than normal, and with full sunshine most of the day! Early this morning lows were right around 70 degrees here in Lafayette. New Iberia and Baton Rouge dropped to 69 for a while, and Hattiesburg, Mississippi was down to a pleasant 63!!! Temps in the 60s in July doesn’t happen very often, and the record low for today is 66. I looked back at the past 10 years, and we only hit the 60s in July 3 times. July 1 and 2 of 2008 (69 & 68) and July 20, 2004 (69).
Our front was still draped across the northen Gulf of Mexico south of Louisiana to near Houston and then northwestward to Dallas. An upper level disturbance was generating some storms in Texas, but those are weakening this morning. The front will lift northward today allowing the humidity levels to rise again, and normal summer like conditions will prevail again for most of the week. Another front will drop southward over Texas by the mid week and our chances for storms will increase again Wednesday and Thursday. Temperatures should be near normal for most of the week and the weekend.
The tropical wave we were watching over the weekend is holding on as it moves toward the Windward Islands. There is still less than a 30% chance for development today. As the wave moves westward, the upper level conditions become more unfavorable for development. Right now it looks like it will drift over the Caribbean by tomorrow. We’ll continue to monitor this wave, and the rest of the tropical Atlantic stays quiet!