Very Quiet Tropics...WORLDWIDE

Hard to believe, but the only named tropical system worldwide is Tropical Storm Arlene in the southern Gulf. I'm sure the "convinced" will blame it on Global Warming...then again originally AGW was supposed to cause more frequent and stronger storms...now they say fewer but stronger storms. Geez, all I know is the first named storm in the Atlantic Basin will not affect the U.S., much like the 19 storms of last summer. Let's hope the pattern continues, although there are many location across the Gulf South that could use the soaking rains of a tropical system.

In the short term, the upper ridge centered over Texas will drift back over us, keeping rain chances slim and none resulting in highs 95-100 through the weekend. The few storms that do form are often strong, but coverage will likely be no better than 10-20% until next week. Keep watering dem plants!