6/29 – The Chief’s “Excessive Heat Warning AGAIN…” Thursday Morning Forecast
High pressure is currently centered just south of the central Louisiana coast. High pressure isn’t going anywhere through Friday night, meaning not much is going to change with the forecast. While the threat of a thunderstorm is not zero over the next two days, areal coverage is expected to be extremely isolated. The main story is the oppressive heat which will continue. I don’t see much change in high temperatures for the next couple of days. Even if a few thunderstorms develop, they’ll likely be late enough in the afternoon to have little to no effect on high temperatures. Heat index/real feel temperature values still support Excessive Heat Warnings for today and Friday. Additionally, much of the area will barely fall below 80 degrees overnight. We haven’t even seen the usually reliable sea-breeze on the Mississippi coast the last couple days. Please continue to monitor vulnerable populations until the pattern returns to a “normal” July pattern.
High Pressure will remain centered over the Gulf South on Saturday, and this will result in another day of very warm temperatures and excessive heat issues. Highs will easily warm into the upper 90s by the afternoon with plenty of sunshine. At most, an isolated thunderstorm may form along the sea breeze. Fortunately, the high pressure that has dominated the region will begin to shift toward Florida and Georgia on Sunday as temperatures return to more seasonable values.
The remainder of next week will see a return to the more typical summer pattern of daily sea-breeze development as another high pressure builds over the region. This sea-breeze pattern will push temperatures back to normal: thunderstorm development along the sea breeze will produce cooling temperatures and increased cloud cover. High temperatures should warm into the low to mid-90s by late morning or early afternoon each day before the sea-breeze fire. Of course, the reverse process will occur over the offshore waters as a land breeze forms during the overnight hours.
