Hot and mostly sunny conditions will generally prevail for the foreseeable future. There are daily chances for rain in the forecast, but they're all low-end (only 10-20%) each day. Given the time of year, this is not unusual; however, the concern for rapid onset drought will increase through the end of the month. Through the first half of the summer, there was enough rainfall off and on to actually alleviate drought across a large part of East Texas. Now that conditions have mostly been dry for the last couple of weeks, we'll need to be vigilant for drought conditions to return. New today, two East Texas counties (Morris and Panola) issued burn bans, and multiple counties have dealt with wildfires over the last week to two weeks. While there are the already mentioned chances for rain over the next 7 to 10 days, the forecast totals are not high enough to make a significant difference in the realm of drought and fire danger. The Climate Prediction Center 8-14 day outlooks for temperatures and precipitation place East Texas in an area trending warmer and drier than normal for August 12 -18. Additionally, their 8-14 hazards outlook outlines a risk for drought onset in areas of East Texas where 30-day precipitation totals are running 2 or more inches below normal.
Today in weather history... On August 4, 2008, a potent derecho tracked through the Midwest. The squall line tore through the Chicago metro while a Cubs game was ongoing, forcing fans to be evacuated. Winds over 90 mph downed hundreds of trees and several tornadoes (up to EF2) were confirmed. The daily weather history segments come to us courtesy of the Southeast Regional Climate Center.
Also on today's show, details on severe weather impacting air travel and a story covering how one Texas zoo is keeping animals cool during the summer heat. Finally, our satellite imagery of the day showing smoky and haze-filled skies over the Pacific Northwest, courtesy of the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere.
