Storm Chances Today, Slight Heat Relief

Today:  mostly sunny.  20% chance for afternoon into early evening storms.  High 98.  Winds:  S 10-15.

Tonight:  partly cloudy.  Low 78.  Winds:  S 5-10.

Tomorrow:  mostly sunny.  High 99.  Winds:  S 10-15.

After triple digit heat over the weekend, today brings a break from the 100s and our best chance of rain this week.  Yet again a disturbance is slowly pushing in from Louisiana as it is being driven around the periphery of that big core of heat created by the upper level ridge.  This has been the predominant pattern this summer as detailed in the graphic below.

While there is not a big severe weather threat today, any of the storms that fire in this environment has the potential to produce damaging winds and locally heavy rainfall.  The storm coverage will be spotty from the afternoon hours into the evening.  The window:  2PM-8PM.  Lightning will also be a concern.  Two things may stop us from getting into the upper 90s:  enough cloud cover and strong outflow from storms if they fire early enough in the afternoon.