Hot and humid weather continues with little rain through Saturday..Cristobal expected to bring heavy rain to part of the area Monday

Look for temperatures to continue to heat up around the ArkLaTex for the next several days with rain chances staying low. Tropical Storm Cristobal still expected to move through Louisiana Sunday night and Monday.

Wednesday was another rather hot and humid day around the ArkLaTex with only a few pop-up showers and thunderstorms. We likely won’t see much chance for the next several days. Look for clouds to increase once again Wednesday night as temperatures will again stay above normal. Most of the area will see lows in the lower 70s. Thursday will start off with a mostly cloudy sky. Just like today, we will see more sunshine mixing in with the clouds as we progress through the day. Once again as temperatures heat up into the upper 80s to low 90s, we will see the chance that a few pop-up afternoon thundershowers will likely develop in a few isolated spots. Once again most of the ArkLaTex will stay dry. Expect similar conditions both Friday and Saturday although rain chances will be even lower. Overnight lows will be in the low to middle 70s. Daytime highs will likely be in the lower 90s.

Our attention will then turn towards Tropical Storm Cristobal that will be moving north through the Gulf of Mexico. The latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center shows the storm making landfall Sunday night over the south-central Louisiana coast. From there, it will head NNW. The NHC forecast keeps the center slightly to the east of our area. Other models do show it moving through the eastern edge of our area. As you look at the NHC forecast, remember there is always some error when you are talking about something that is several days away. It is still quite possible that the storm tracks further west into Texas. It is also possible that it tracks well to our east and provides little impact.

Given the latest model projections, it still appears that the biggest rain impacts from Cristobal will be over the eastern half of the area where two to four inches of rain should be expected. Over NE TX and SE Ok rainfall totals will likely be in the one to two-inch range. Again, we still could still see some adjustments in the placement and amounts of the heaviest rain.

Once Cristobal moves through our area, we will see the return of a hot, humid, and mainly dry weather pattern for the rest of next week. Highs will likely return to the low to middle 90s. Lows will likely stay in the upper 60s to low 70s.

–Todd Warren