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Hot Temperatures and Mountain Storms 09/04/12
Hot Temperatures and Mountain Storms 9/4/12
Greg Morgan – Chief Meteorologist
Hot conditions are expected again today as an upper level ridge dominates the weather pattern for much of the area. The only locations expected to see abundant clouds and a chance of rain will be the higher elevations, where the ridge has less influence and orographics will support lifting and maybe a few thunderstorms. Highs will reach well into the triple digits for much of the Permian Basin and Trans Pecos today. A few locations over the eastern and northern Permian Basin will reach highs just shy of the century mark. Winds will be out of the south at 10-15mph.
Wednesday will again be hot, but a subtle change may occur late in the day. A strong upper level trough will kick out of the Rockies into the Plains States. A cold front will surge south into the Texas Panhandle. While the front will stay well to our north, a complex of storms near Amarillo appears imminent and these storms will push an outflow boundary southward into the region. This might briefly drop temperatures on Wednesday evening and perhaps provide a focus for an isolated storm or two. Unfortunately the effects of this boundary will not linger into Thursday or Friday. As such, hot and dry conditions will once again return for the late part of the week.
A very strong upper level low pressure system will drop south into the Mississippi River Valley on Friday night. This will drive a cold front southward into West Texas. The air mass behind this front will be quite a bit cooler than fronts we’ve seen this season, so expect significant cooling over the weekend. Highs will be in the 80’s on Saturday and Sunday. Overnight lows could easily drop into the 50’s on Saturday night and Sunday morning. A chance of rain will exist with this front on Saturday. By Sunday, the best chance of rain will drift south of I-10. Rain chances will exit the area by Sunday and another warming trend will commence.
GM