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Heat builds next several days; tropical weather-maker possible late next week & hurricane season preview

Posted at 6:21 PM, May 31, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-31 23:32:55-04

The hottest stretch of weather so far for the year is in store for Acadiana this weekend, and into early next week, as a ridge of high pressure decreases the rain chances and cloud cover, yielding high temperatures pushing the mid-90s.

Heat indices will jump into the 100-106 degree range this weekend into early next week giving us our first full taste of summer.

Like Friday, there will be a slight chance of a late afternoon or early evening thunderstorm Saturday (near 20-30%) with lower rain chances likely Sunday into early next week.

And with the excessive heat in the area, a few storms Saturday could be on the strong side, producing gusty winds in addition to brief, torrential downpours and frequent cloud to ground lightning.

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And after our first little heat wave of the summer, or rather late spring, a potential weather-maker could be shaping up for the area and the state toward the end of next week.

Deep tropical moisture currently pooling in the Bay of Campeche, which has also caught the eye of the National Hurricane Center, is expected to slowly slide northward across the extreme Western Gulf of Mexico through mid-week, then make a run for Louisiana Thursday night into Friday.

The Euro Model is producing high tropical atmospheric moisture in our area as an upper disturbance approaches from the west, and interacts with this slug of moisture…the results could be a heavy rain & possibly a flooding event for Louisiana.

While impossible to forecast rainfall events a week out, there is at least a  5-8″ rainfall potential locally for Acadiana. Also notice farther to the north that soaked Oklahoma gets more big rains too.

We’re talking a week out so a lot can, and will change, but this feature/possible event is on my “radar”…pun intended.

Finally, Saturday June 1st marks the beginning of the 2019 Atlantic Hurricane Season…here’s my briefing on what to expect below: