July 10th Weather Blog

. . .The Heat Returns With Little Rain This Weekend. . .

Short Term:  It is a fairly nice start to this Friday morning.  The skies are mostly clear with warm temperatures in the mid 70s.  It is not too humid, especially in areas that got some much needed rain yesterday. 

The weather pattern is going to change this weekend, and we will start to see these changes this afternoon.  An upper-level ridge of high pressure will be building over Louisiana today, and this will lower our chances for rain.  It will then allow for the temperatures to heat up!  Since we will be on the eastern fringe of this high pressure, that will still allow a stray storm or two to pop up, but many of you will remain dry.  The chance of rain is around 20%.  The mercury will be climbing into the mid 90s with mostly sunny skies.  The Heat Index will climb to around 105.   

We will have a pretty nice night with mostly clear skies, but it will be a little steamy.  Low temperatures will fall down to the mid 70s.

Weekend Forecast:  The area of high pressure will be moving over Louisiana on Saturday, and that will bring us mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies.  This high will not be as strong as the one that sat over us in June, and because of that, we could see a storm or two pop up during the late afternoon hours.  However, the chance for rain will be around 20%.  High temperatures will be rising to the mid 90s, and a few areas could be in the upper 90s.  It will still be humid, so the Heat Index will be around 105 to 110 at times. 

Much of the same weather is expected on Sunday.  We will have partly cloudy skies as that high sits over us.  A stray storm is still possible, but the chance is only around 20%.  High temperatures will be in the mid 90s with lows in the mid 70s. 

Next Week Outlook:  The upper-level area of high pressure will still be parked over us on Monday and Tuesday.  This will continue to provide us with mostly sunny skies, and hot temperatures in the mid 90s. 

On Wednesday, the area of high pressure will start to retreat back to the west as a trough of low pressure moves toward the Southeast U.S., and sends a weak front our way.  As this happens, we will see an increase in the showers and thunderstorms over our area.  The chance of rain goes up to 30% with partly cloudy skies.  It will remain hot with highs still in the mid 90s. 

On Thursday and Friday, that front will move through, and it will set off scattered showers and thunderstorms over Baton Rouge with the chance of rain around 30-40%.  High temperatures will drop a few degrees because of the clouds and rain.  They will climb into the lower 90s under partly cloudy skies.

Tropical Update:  Satellite imagery shows a few tropical waves moving across the open Atlantic, but they are not expected to develop.  It also shows that there has been a lot of dust moving over the eastern Atlantic coming from the Sahara Desert this past week.  This dust prevents any storms from forming since it brings in dry air. 

Elsewhere. . .the tropics remain quiet, and tropical cyclone formation is not expected through Sunday.

Follow Me:  

Weather Newsletter:  If you would like to have the Weather Blog in your e-mail Inbox every morning during the week, click here and sign up for FREE!  

Additional Weather Information:  Remember you can always get the latest forecast and radar information on Cox Cable channel 18 or Digital Cable channel 125, on www.2theadvocate.com/weather, or by calling the Weather 2 forecast line at (225) 336-2375.