Yesterday was a very warm day for late April. We didn’t break any records, but temps ended up way above average. They were mainly in the upper 80s.
We’ll have similar temperatures today. We’ll be mainly in the upper 80s with a few 90s inland.
Skies will be mostly sunny for a while. Then we’ll pop a few more clouds this afternoon. High pressure is offshore. There is a warm front to our north with a cold front near Memphis.
We should keep a steady wind out of the southwest at 8-12mph. That should stop the sea breeze from forming as long as it stays steady. We won’t have any rain in the region today, but humidity is climbing. Dew points are now in the low-mid 50s.
They will probably rise to the upper 50s to near 60 by the late afternoon.
Tomorrow the front will still be off to our west. However, we should be a bit cooler as our clouds will be increasing. Plus, we may have a few showers and storms during the afternoon. More on that in a moment. High temps will aim for the upper 70s, but I feel like there will also be some low 80s mixing in.
The first half of Saturday will be quiet. During the afternoon a handful of showers and storms will try to pop up ahead of a line that will be developing to our west. The line may reach some of our inland locations by the mid-afternoon.
By the time we hit the early evening there will be a line of showers and storms moving in from the west. Some of these storms will contain heavy downpours. Winds will already be gusty out of the southwest during the day. As the storms arrive some gusts could be up to 45mph or higher. Some severe gusts will be possible along with isolated hail. We also can’t rule out an isolated tornado, but that should be a lower threat.
The rain will end a little after midnight. Then we’ll be dry on Sunday. High temps will sink to the upper 60s.
Then we’ll be dry and a bit cool early next week. High temps will be in the low-mid 60s. The average highs are in the low 70s for this time of year.
We do need rain. The U.S. Drought Monitor updated yesterday. A lot of our area is now in a moderate drought.
So I am hopeful that we will get about a half inch to an inch of rainfall between Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening.
Some lucky places might get up to an inch and a quarter. However, I’m still a bit skeptical of the higher amounts. When your area is in a drought, then the models tend to overestimate rainfall forecasts. So we’ll see. Either way we should get enough rain to help out the grass and trees, wash out the pollen for a bit, and just give the area a good cleaning in general.
Meteorologist: Jeremy Wheeler