Scattered Rains Return This Weekend

By Jay Grymes & Steve Caparotta

May 15th WAFB First Alert Quickcast:

- increasing rain chances through the next 3 days

Friday … finally.  Seems like it was an extra-long work week .. .like someone snuck an extra work day into the week.  But maybe that is because we were waiting on the upcoming Memorial Day weekend: a 3-day break for many and the unofficial kick-off of summer!

But take a moment to remember the purpose of Memorial Day: a day of remembrance for those who have died in service of the United States.  The National Moment of Remembrance, established by Congress, asks Americans, wherever they are at 3 p.m., local time, on Memorial Day, to pause in an act of national unity for a duration of one minute.

No complaining about today’s weather .. and our forecast from last night, with a 30% to 40% chance of rain, proved to be a big bust.  So what happened?  The cool front we showed you last night moved farther south and out over the northern Gulf waters, allowing a more significant “dry out” for today.  Although a couple of spotty showers popped up during the afternoon, the lower humidity (and lower temperatures) made for a nice Friday afternoon, even with the cirrus cloud deck.

So now the question is, “When will the front start its northward retreat?”

We expect it starts moving back in our direction later tonight, but its return will be slow enough that we get another fairly pleasant morning start for Saturday.  It’s won’t be as cool for the Red Stick tomorrow morning as it was this morning - - how about a low of 63° at BR’s Metro Airport and lows in the 50°s near and north of the LA/MS state line - - but we’ll still see some mid to upper 60°s for Saturday’s lows.

Into the afternoon, the warm front will have lifted north of the Capital City, allowing a return of Gulf humidity. That will mean a better chance of rain across the area, but we still think that the majority of neighborhoods will stay dry.  Set rain chances for Saturday afternoon at about 30% or so. 

After that, however, rain chances continue to climb for Sunday and Memorial Day Monday.  We’ll be hopeful for just a 30% to 40% rain chance for Sunday afternoon, but our outlook has “rain likely” for Monday. Expect morning lows in the low 70°s for both Sunday and Monday.  Plan for highs in the upper 80°s for Sunday, with temperatures falling in the afternoon where the rains do fall.  For Monday, with rain chances at 60% to 70%, the cloudy, wet pattern will keep highs in the low 80°s for many of us.  In addition, while it won’t rain all day in your backyard on Monday, rains are likely to be falling somewhere in the viewing area for the better part of the day.

We’ve got “rain likely” for the Tuesday forecast too, with scattered to likely rains for Wednesday.  Heading into Thursday and Friday, we expect to ease back on the rain chances at 30% to 40% or so for both days.

So take advantage of a “drier” pattern for Saturday and Sunday, have a “Plan B” ready for Monday afternoon … and enjoy the weekend.