An Update Long Overdue

I'm back!  If you've been wondering about the lack of updates on the weather blog...well...don't worry.  The reason for the absence revolves the fact that I got married. Obviously I was occupied with that main event in my life so that explains the delay.

Now that I'm back from the honeymoon, let's get back to bussiness.  While I was gone there wasn't a whole lot that changed in the weather pattern in Arkansas.  It was hot and we saw a few isolated storms roam over the landscape.  The major topic that everyone talked about last week was the massive heat wave that broke out in the Central and Eastern portions of the U.S.  Jeff and I saw this pattern well out in advance so it's not shocking to hear that cities got to experience heat index values in the 120 range.

Onto this week...

TODAY:  A weak upper level disturbance is rushing in from the west.  While that is taking place, we had to endure a good amount of daytime heating earlier today.  With these two elements coming together in the Natural Sate, we have seen thunderstorms develop over portions of Central and Southern Arkansas.  These storms will be brief.  They'll carry heavy downpours, lightning and gusty winds.  Above all else, the cloud cover and rainfall will help temperatures cool down to the 80's and upper 70's.

TONIGHT: Storms will quickly fade and we'll be left some lingering clouds.  Temperatures will stumble down to the mid to upper 70's.

TUESDAY-THURSDAY:  The atmosphere will settle down over Arkansas and it will stay hot.  Temperatures will spike up to the upper 90's if not 100 degrees with a few clouds mixing with the blazing sunshine.

FRIDAY-WEEKEND: Long range models continue to hint at another disturbance coming in from the gulf.  If it does manage to get here we may see a few pop-up afternoon storms as we approach the weekend.  The chances are not too high here so you can still plan on doing your outdoor activities if you can survive the heat.

                                                (GFS weather model showing evening storms for Saturday)


NEXT WEEK: We're already getting indications that another heat wave maybe brewing for early next week.  Another dome of high pressure is expected to develop aloft near Kansas and Northwest Arkansas.  Thus, forcing temperatures to stay in the triple digits...and rain chances to remain non-existant.  Hopefully we'll get a different output in the coming days.

                                         (European model showing strong high pressure in the mid levels early next week)


That's it my friends.  I'll have more updates this week.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------