Unsettled Weather in the Southeast to Hold Back the “Real” Heat

Big summer heat is building across the Southern Plains and it will be trying to build to the north and east through the remainder of the week. The obstacle it will have in how far east it will make it through the end of the week will be where will the storms and rain be in association to a stationary boundary and waves of low pressure that will move along it.

The stationary boundary is currently stretched along the Gulf Coast from near New Orleans to Mobile and into southwestern GA and up into South Carolina. Along the boundary one wave of low pressure was located in central GA. To the north of the boundary, scattered showers and a few t-storms were occurring and where they were temperatures were being kept into the 80s.

However, just to the north of the shield of clouds associated with the rain showers/t-storms, temperatures were rising into the low 90s. More substantial rains were found south of the boundary from the northeast Gulf of Mexico across northern Florida. This weather pattern has set up for some substantial rains along the Gulf Coast and into northern Florida, heaviest being into northern Florida from near Cross City to Gainesville where 2+" of rain has fallen in the last 48 hours. As a result, a flood watch has been issued for Levy and Citrus counties in Florida until Thursday evening. This is due to the fact that the weather pattern will not change much through the next 24-hours as another wave of low pressure will develop and move along the stationary boundary tonight into Thursday delivering more rains to already wet areas.

As a result of little change in the overall weather pattern for Thursday and even into Friday, temperatures will not change a lot across the Southeast either. The "Real" heat will remain confined over the Southern Plains where many will see readings back above 100 from Texas into Kansas. Heat advisories are already in place for portions of the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles and also across southern Texas. Looking out into the weekend, it doesn't look a whole lot different with the mid 90s making it east to the Mississippi River with 90s stretching into the Carolinas with the 100s remain in the Southern Plains.

The upper level high that is bringing the building heat to the Southern Plains will also bring reduce air quality. Moderate-high conditions were already occurring in the Little Rock and Dallas-Ft. Worth metro areas, today. For Thursday, the moderate-high conditions will spread east into the Memphis metro area. Please remember that moderate-high air quality conditions stands for "unhealthy for sensitive groups." If you are sensitive to poor air you may experience health effects while the general public is likely to not be affected.

That is it for today. If you have to be in the heat, please use caution and drink plenty of non-alcoholic beverages. Try to get into air conditioning as much as possible and remember to check on the elderly and pets.

Thanks for stopping by and make sure to check back tomorrow for Thursday's weather briefing video.