Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Rain, the Tropics & a Waterspout!
 
A busy day in the WAFB Storm Center today!
 
Radar suggests that most of the WAFB viewing area received rain today. In fact, for some locations to the west of Baton Rouge, Wednesday was a very wet day. Titan9 Doppler radar shows as much as 2” of rain and more fell over parts of WBR, southern Pointe Coupee, eastern St. Martin, eastern St. Landry and sections of Iberville parishes, with a bull’s eye of 3” to nearly 4” centered over northern Iberville Parish.
 
And for most WAFB neighborhoods, that rain was welcomed. Not only has it has been a bit drier-than-normal for many communities over recent weeks, but we’ve been on a 9-day run with highs at 90° or above for the Red Stick, so the break in the heat -- thanks to the rains and clouds -- was a bonus! With a high of just 82° for Wednesday afternoon at Metro AP, that makes today’s afternoon readings the “coolest” for Baton Rouge since May 22nd -- that’s better than 4 weeks!
 
But don’t get used to it -- we expect the 90°s to be back for Thursday, Friday and right through the weekend!
 
A stalled front and eastward-moving upper-level disturbance produced today’s rain, but we don’t anticipate a repeat performance any time soon. The disturbance will continue to move away from the viewing area this evening and the quasi-stationary front draped over the coastal states looks like it will slowly lose its definition over the next couple of days and eventually dissipate.
 
So let’s go with a 20% to 30% rain chance for Thursday with only isolated, mainly-afternoon showers expected for Friday. As we head into the weekend, we’ll return to a fairly typical June weather pattern for Saturday and Sunday: low 70°s near sunrise, low 90°s for the afternoons, and afternoon to early-evening rain chances in the 30% to 40% range for both days.
 
And did you see some of the still shots and video of the waterspout that hit Grand Isle on wednesday afternoon?  here's a sample:
 
 
 
 
And yes, Tropical Depression #2 has been upgraded and is now Tropical Storm Barry. Data this afternoon from an Air Force “Hurricane Hunter” showed that the pressure had fallen and peak winds had increased enough to confirm the upgrade. But Barry’s time over water is short, with a landfall expected along the Mexican Coast on Thursday morning.
 
 

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