8/02 Heat

The main story for the next week: the heat. An extreme heat advisory has been issued for the majority of the Central U.S. In our region, I will expect a the NWS in Jackson to hold onto our Heat Advisory through at least Tuesday afternoon. Most models are agreeing on a strong ridge sustaining in the South through about mid-week, but we often see this come into play during the 8th month of the year.

Concerning the heat, I will definitely expect our friends in the Delta to reach heat index values above 110 for the next couple of days. If you want to talk about being lucky, I would say our influence of the Gulf of Mexico will help keep our temps in the mid-upper 90s, but the temps will definitely feel hot as our heat index will still be around 105. The Delta doesn't have as much influence from the Gulf so their temps will rise into the triple digits.

In case you are curious, a good heat index calculator can be found from El Paso's Office at http://www.srh.noaa.gov/elp/wxcalc/heatindex.html

During this heat, please help me tell others about their safety. Heat waves are known as a silent killer throughout the nation. Extreme temperatures are hardly noticed until they cause some one to faint or become ill. Please spread the word to remind people to drink plenty of water and stay in the A/C. Thank you.

One last note, there is a low pressure system, Invest 91, that has formed in NE Gulf. Most models have this system moving to the west, but this system should reach Texas by Tuesday without changing our forecast. There is a slight chance we will see a shower or two from the outskirts of the system, but I wouldn't expect many people to experience this event.