More May Fronts Coming, Great End To JazzFest

You've heard the phrase "What a difference a day makes"?  It often is very true with the weather as Friday was in the Dumper (Dumpster for you purists!) with a welcomed soaking all day rainfall that put a real dent into our many months mini-drought.  The NWS graphic shows both sides of the Lake received 2-3" rain amounts, but it's the view out my window that really shows what a difference a day makes.  The top is yesterday from high atop Copeland Tower.

With the return of sunshine, everyone, even our dogs, seemed to have more energy.  Here are the rain amounts.

With all of the heavy rainfall upstream, the Mississippi River has a huge surge coming during the next 2 weeks that has brough us up from below 5 feet at the Carrollton gage to over 7 feet today.  We'll peak at 8+ feet(or higher) later this month, well below the heights of our levee protection.

The cold front has pushed well off our coast, bringing us relief from the heat & muggies.

Most of our nation is feeling pretty good as the 80s and 90s are gone, along with the 60-70+ dew points.  Plus, we're not done with fronts as another system off of California will bring another front late Wednesday into Thursday.  Moving at a lower latitude, it could bring us a threat for severe storms, but it's way too soon to tell.

The current eastern trough will keep us in the good feel air for 2-3 days.

The drier air will allow our nighttime temps to dip into the 40s on the North Shore, with 50s south. We'll see a brief warm-up mid-week with another delightful cool down for next weekend.  Finally, as we approach another hurricane season, I'm working on some graphics for my next podcast that will be available to subscribers next Tuesday or Wednesday.  If you want to hear and see my views/opinions, go to bobreck.com and sign up for $2/mo.  During hurricane season, my podcast will help you make the decision to stay or leave.  Ch. 8 has once again kept me on as their hurricane consultant.  You can trust Your Hurricane Authority.  Stay tuned!

Forgettable Friday, Sunny & Drier Weekend

Today has been one of those stay-in-bed days where we see no sunshine, periods of rain, and super muggy air that is causing all kinds of allergy problems.  Since I moved into Copeland Tower back last December, I have marveled at my views from 14 stories up.  Not today, as a low cloud deck has made for a dreary day. It's not a pretty day at JazzFest.

And as ugly as it is at 3 PM, Friday afternoon and evening will only get worse as the upper disturbance coming across Texas will trigger widespread moderate to heavy rainfall across south LA/MS.  Our local NWS office is indicating the potential for another 4-6" of rainfall overnight, so we can expect some local street flooding.

You can see there is lots of lightning back to our west, so expect a noisy evening & overnight. The surface front has pushed down to the coast, making it feel cool & damp outside.

Gone are the 80s replaced by 50s & 60s.  Note the much lower dew points (drier air) behind the front.  Tomorrow & Sunday will feel much better once the sun returns.  But we have to get through another 12-18 hours of nasty weather.

Look for many hours of moderate to heavy rainfall through at least midnight.  The real storms with lightning & strong winds are back towards Houston.  If we're lucky, most of that will stay offshore to our south.  If not, it will get really ugly here in the 10 PM-3 AM time frame.  There is a 20-degree difference between Venice & McComb!

Once the upper low gets to our east, all the clouds and showers will pull away, making for a great feel weekend.  Thursday's drought monitor did not include yesterday's rainfall.  With a lot more to come tonight, it should really improve when it comes out next Thursday.  Let's pay attention this evening as we're in for a rainy night.   FYI, I haven't done a podcast for a while as there has been little weather to talk about.  I will do one next week, dealing with the upcoming Hurricane Season, which begins one month from today.  Go to bobbreck.com to sign up.  Enjoy the current coolness as you know what's coming.  Stay tuned!