Cooler and drier/less humid air will stick around through Friday before there's a brief return of highs in the middle 90s this weekend. Friday's forecast calls for mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies and highs in the upper 80s and lower 90s. This weekend will generally be dry, minus a low chance for rain late Sunday. High temperatures both Saturday and Sunday will be in the 90s. Next week, a combination of features in the atmosphere will play a role in a cool down for East Texas temperatures, and widespread showers and thunderstorms. First, moisture from the Pacific and the remnants of Hurricane Polo will flow into Texas from the west. A cold front will move into the state by mid-week with a trough of low pressure, the front colliding with the moisture-rich air leading to chances for rain across Texas. There is some uncertainty as to how far east the highest rainfall totals could be, but at this time, we are confident that at least some rain will make it to East Texas next week. Not only for East Texas, but for the state as a whole, this should prove beneficial towards helping to relieve some impacts from the ongoing drought.
Today in weather history... September 24, 2005, Hurricane Rita made landfall in southwest Louisiana. The Category 3 devastated several coastal parishes, with the worst damage seen in Cameron where >90% of several communities were swept away. At least 120 fatalities were associated with Rita. Hurricane Rita spawned an outbreak of nearly 100 tornadoes in the Southeast. A dozen twisters were significant (F2+), the strongest of which was an F3 that destroyed several buildings near Waterproof, LA. One person was killed and 23 were hurt. Today's daily weather history segment comes to us courtesy of the Southeast Regional Climate Center.
Also on today's show, we'll look at the latest updates on an early season Nor'Easter as well as El Niño and how it continues to influence Pacific tropical cyclones. Finally, our satellite imagery of the day, showing Hurricane Odalys sails the open waters of the Pacific, while Hurricane Polo and Tropical Storm Nolo threaten Mexico and Hawai’i respectively, courtesy of the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere.
