Extreme heat this weekend, rain chances increase next week as front moves in
We've seen 13 consecutive days of triple-digit heat, smashing the old record of seven set back in September of 2000. This heat wave looks to continue through the weekend, possibly even intensifying.
Highs today and tomorrow will be in the 102-104 degree range with heat index values once again in the 115-120 degree range between 1-5 p.m. Rain chances will be minimal, 10-20%, through the weekend.
There is some hope, however, looking ahead to next week. Triple-digit heat looks to start the week off, with highs of 101-102 on Monday. By Tuesday and Wednesday, the ridge of high pressure looks to weaken a bit, with the center of it pushing westward. This opens the door for more troughing to come in, hopefully increasing storm chances Tuesday and Wednesday. With storm chances of 30-50% Tuesday and Wednesday, this should knock temperatures down with increased cloud cover, especially if storms spark off earlier in the day.
Both the GFS and European models now show a weak front stalling across the region Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Stalled fronts this time of year usually produce a good soaking, which would be very beneficial. Some storms could even be strong on Tuesday with the level of heat and instability which will be in place.
We've seen this before, however, with models giving us signs of hope, later taking that hope away as the days get closer. We'll remain hopeful this heatwave may soon end, or at the very least slow down a bit. We could also really use the rainfall as most of Acadiana is in the midst of a severe drought.