10/16 – Payton’s Tuesday Afternoon Forecast

The area will remain on the western side of a strong upper level ridge over Florida and the western Gulf of Mexico. A cold front will also remain stretched across the Lower Mississippi Valley through Wednesday. The combination of the front in the region, moisture and increased forcing aloft associated with weak upper level impulses moving across the region will keep a risk of scattered showers and a few thunderstorms in place through Wednesday.

The ridge will spread to the west and strengthen over the area on Thursday and Friday. This decrease in  moisture will result in less cloud development on Thursday and Friday and lower rain chances. Thursday will see the lowest rain chances.

A stronger system will dive into the eastern seaboard over the weekend, and force a stronger cold front into the northern Gulf of Mexico Saturday into Saturday night. Forcing along the front on Saturday will bring mostly cloudy skies and scattered showers to the area Saturday into Saturday evening. Temperatures should also cool slightly back into the upper 70s and lower 80s. Drier air and cooler air will then sweep into the area on Sunday and remain in place through Monday. Clear skies and low humidity will allow overnight lows to cool into the 50s Sunday night.