Happy Easter, Weak Front Brought Much Need Rainfall, Quick Warm Up.

As some of you know, I go to my grandson's house every April for his Birthday.  Last year he lived in Edmond, Oklahoma.  This year, he's in Bowling Green, KY.  It's been a beautiful time with family, and having my new partner, Valerie, with me has been special.  Friday was fishing with Ethan on a stocked pond, which we will have a podcast early next week.  Today was an Easter egg hunt with all the grandkids of Yvonne & Tommy Hermann. We begin with Ethan fishing, then at his B-Day party.

The Easter egg hunt was coordinated by Emily & her two sisters, Courtney & Chelsea.  I supervised along with my son, Justin. It was sunny, but temps were in the 50s, hence the gloves.

The girls placed over 300 eggs across the property, and the grandkids went out in search of the prizes.

It reminded me of my youth and of the value of being with family during the holidays.  Obviously, Easter is a Holy Day, and morning Mass at St. Joseph was special.  It's a small,  but beautiful Catholic church.

I will be back in NOLA Monday evening and should post again on Tuesday PM.  Today's rainfall was needed and welcomed with the heaviest storm long gone by daybreak.

Most of the rainfall is now offshore, and the cool down will be brief since there is no big dip in the upper jet stream.

The cold front has sagged into the Gulf, but some clouds linger behind it.

Our temperature cool down won't be drastic, but the 30s & 40s dew points will make the air feel better.

Enjoy this nice spell before we quickly warm up by mid-week.  We're not done with cold fronts, but they are getting weaker.  Happy Easter, Gang.  Stay tuned!

Boundaries Still Persists, Easter Looks Wet, Cooler Next Week, Podcast Tomorrow

Those of you who have joined my podcast and are wondering where it is.  Haven't done one in two weeks. Frankly, there has been so little to talk about.  I will do one tonight that will be available tomorrow.  If you want to see it, go to bobbreck.com to sign up and join.  I'm still trying to figure out why we have these weak upper boundaries that enhance T-Storms in some areas.  We all have deep tropical moisture over us, but not everybody is getting wet.

NWS has broad-brushed a large area of 70%+ coverage, but radar doesn't show that over SE LA/MS.  We have more of a summer-like pattern where weak upper disturbances enhance our daily storms.  But for the life of me, I can't figure out where these boundaries are forming or going.  That makes for a difficult forecast challenge.  So let me show you what I do know.  The main storm track remains far to our north.  One disturbance is coming out of Colorado with another following along the West Coast.

SPC's severe weather outlook confirms their thinking that this pattern will last the next 2-3 days.  The top graphic is today, followed by Thursday and Friday.

Clearly, the potential for severe storms is not around us.  However, models are bringing a cold front into Louisiana for Easter Sunday.  It will be a slow mover with the greatest threat being some heavy rainfall (2-4").  Timing will be critical as it is too soon to narrow down which part of the day goes in the dumper.

So our confidence is high that Sunday will have the better rain chances.  But what about the next 2-3 days? We have no fronts around.

Dew points (bottom graphic) are 60+ all the way up to Louisville.  Couple in temps. 80+ and you will see some daytime heating storms perk up.  IF the cold front reaches us late Sunday, cooler and drier air returns for Monday-Wednesday.  

March ended as the 2nd warmest nationwide.  April will see more cold fronts coming before the heat of summer sets in.  Podcast coming tomorrow.  Stay tuned!