The Extreme Heat is Gone!

Hallelujah!  The strong upper level ridge is finally gone!  After weeks of intense heat and sizzling sunshine, we are being rewarded with a cooler weather pattern this week.  We've already seen a good amount of cloud cover and rainfall in recent days.  In fact, a weak cold front actually slipped past Little Rock this afternoon and has kept temperatures down in the low 90's today...the low 90's!  It hasn't been this nice in the afternoon since mid July.

I've got some more great news to share with you...but before I get to to the really good stuff let's talk about the upcoming work week...

TOMORROW:  I'm going to be honest here...tomorrow is pretty hard to forecast.  Jeff and I have been discussing it for a while now.  On Wednesday, there will be a weak cold front drapped across Central Arkansas.  With enough daytime heating that should help a few thunderstorms develop during the day.  That's what were thinking at this time, but several high resolution models are hinting at a cluster of thunderstorms diving in from Kansas and Southern Missouri and hitting us by the mid-morning hours. 

The biggest question is which one of these solutions is going to pan out.  If the cluster of thunderstorms come during the late morning then we'll barely get to the upper 80's around here.  If the other situation pans out then we'll easily get to the mid 90's.  Jeff and I are going to stick with the latter for now. 

                                                           (model showing rain late tomorrow morning)

REST OF THE WORK WEEK: A weak frontal boundary will remain overhead and keep our rain chances alive this week.  Best opporunity for rain and storms will obviously be in the afternoon.  Aside from the scattered showers and storms, temperatures will be a mixed bag of 80's and 90's depending upon where you live.

WEEKEND:  Remember the great news I promised?  Well, here it is.  A cold front will venture down here late on Saturday.  And this isit your ordinary summer cold front that drops our temperatures a couple degrees.  Oh no, this puppy is a full blown cold front.  The front could be so strong that we may struggle to get out of the upper 80's by next week.  Besides bringing down our temperatures, this front will also bring down our humidity for a change.

So there you have it.  Keep those umbrellas handy and get those jeans ready to go.

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