Sunday, June 15, 2014

Summertime pattern builds into the Mid-South

As everyone knows, the first half of June featured a lot of rain in the Memphis metro. Perhaps this blog on the first lengthy summertime pattern is a welcome change! Although things look to warm up a bit, it is hardly unbearable (seasonal even) and the decrease in precipitation chances is certainly alright with me. Let's take a look at some of the specifics regarding the coming week.

Mean sea level pressure and 3-hourly precipitation totals valid for 7 AM Tuesday
By Tuesday morning the typical summer-time pattern is quite apparent when viewing a mean sea level pressure map. Surface high pressure (the Bermuda high) is situated to our east, ushering in moist Gulf air into the region via its clockwise rotation. This will keep humidity values at levels that allow heat indices approaching the century mark during the day.

GFS Temperature and Heat Index values for the work week
A visual picture of model output shows temperatures nearly the same each day this week - near 90 (we expect temperatures to be a bit warmer than this, around 92). Similarly, heat indices approach 100 just about every day. This is only slightly above average for this time of year, as the weather this week will be nearly seasonal. It is worth pointing out that temperatures will remain in the 70s overnight due to the high humidity. With  heat indices near 100 in the afternoons, it's also time to give some thought to summer heat safety tips if you work outdoors. Make sure you're drinking plenty of water and wearing light-colored, loose-fitting clothing, taking breaks as necessary. 

To recap, highs in the lower 90's and lows in the mid 70's are expected for the work week. Partly cloudy skies can be expected for the vast majority of the week with only slight chances of thunderstorms by the end of the work week (beginning Thursday). As always you can find a full MWN forecast here.

--William Churchill (MWN Social Media Intern)

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