Still In June, But I hear the Barking Dogs of August...

I remember as a child hearing these are “the dog days of August”.   A Google search will reveal some relationship to astronomy & the “Dog Star Sirius”.  I think the “old folks” generally referred to the time of summer when it was so hot and uncomfortable that even the dogs didn’t want to be outside.  The past 2 days have felt like that (although we had a decent breeze) as we had zero showers and plenty of sunshine resulting in highs low to mid 90s.  It’s a rare summer day to have zero showers around and today made it 2 in a row.   Since we don’t have a big upper ridge to prevent showers from developing, I would suspect the next few days might see a couple of stray storms develop, but coverage (5-10%) will remain far below our daily normal of 40-50%.   There are zero tropical storms/hurricanes/typhoons anywhere around the Globe tonight.  Computer models are showing more development in the eastern Pacific during the next 5-10 days, but nothing in the Atlantic.   Joe Bastardi of Weather Bell Analytics points out we will be heading into the favorable (rising air) phase of the MJO during the next 2 weeks and he suggests the Euro is hinting at development either in the NE Gulf or along the SE coast(Fl-Carolinas) for the week of July 4^th.   RIGHT NOW, our part of the World is ruled by upper air lows with one down over the southern Gulf interacting with a tropical wave coming across the Yucatan resulting in a flair up of storms.  Another upper low is near the eastern tip of Cuba interacting with a tropical wave that is causing showers for Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic & Haiti.    NHC only says no tropical development is expected for the next 3-5 days.    My motto has always been…never get concerned/nervous over something that isn’t there yet, and we have nothing there yet.  Enjoy the heat, stay hydrated and be cautious if you are working or playing outdoors as heat stroke/exhaustion can come on quickly when the heat index tops 105.   Stay tuned!