Scattered storms....cooler temps ahead....

I want to start off by showing a beautiful phenomenon that I personally had never witnessed until yesterday evening. Many thanks to my good friend and neighbor Carrie Campbell for giving me a call to see it, and then getting and sending me some great shots.

The phenomenon appears to be iridescent clouds. Here is what appeared to occur. There were some broken cirrus clouds yesterday evening about 30-40 thousand feet or so off the ground. Then, some big cumulonimbus (thunderstorm) clouds developed vertically until they actually reached and then bowed up the cirrus clouds. The evening sun then hit those cirrus clouds. The result was a breath-taking display....truly one of the most beautiful things I have seen. Here are a few shots Carrie got of the event....be sure and click to see a larger image. **Note, these images have not been altered in any way.**


Here is the link to Carrie's blog where she shares more of the pictures!





Many areas along and north of roughly I-40 saw some intense areas of rain and storms yesterday evening, and some 2-3" rain amounts (and locally even higher totals) occurred.

Today, we have a cold front dropping into the area. That will likely trigger scattered storms around the region, and some of the storms will likely produce some damaging wind gusts. Highs today will be in the 90s around the region.

The front will begin to slide south of us tomorrow. I will still mention some chance of showers and storms tomorrow with most highs in the lower side of the 90s.

For the weekend, high pressure will wedge down the eastern side of the mountains, that will likely spell clouds, some cooler temps, and a shower chance at times. Highs will be in the 80s for much of the region Saturday and Sunday.

Next work week, I anticipate a daily chance of a few storms with highs in the upper 80s to lower 90s.

Tropics...

Tropical Depression 5 lost its right with shear yesterday and is just a remnant low. However, like I mentioned yesterday, the biggest issue with this system is rain, and some high rain totals are likely in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and western Florida over the next several days.

There are a couple other tropical waves well out to sea, but no development is imminent.