Thursday 7/7 Update

First update in a few days here...been away for a long weekend.  We've got a few things to look at today, including the possibility of a wet night ahead, a nice weekend, and some sizzling temperatures.

This afternoon, it's a typical July setup...hot, humid, and some pop-up thunderstorms.  But tonight, a little better organized system will lead to better chances of more widespread wet weather.  There is currently upper level low in north central MO that will drop southeast tonight, and as it does so, will increase the chances of showers and thunderstorms later tonight, overnight, and possibly even into the part of tomorrow.  The threat of severe weather tonight is low, but the SPC has included most of the area (along and west of the lakes) in a slight risk, for the potential of a few storms producing wind or hail.

Tomorrow, the upper level low scoots onto the east, with rain chances diminishing as the day wears on.  Shouldn't be too terribly hot, with highs in the mid 80's.  Then as we head into the weekend, the big weather story will turn to an expanding upper level ridge that will keep us sunny and send the mercury rising.

The image above in the GFS 500 mb chart (mid/upper atmosphere) on Monday morning.  Notice the "H" near Memphis...that is the center of an expansive area of high pressure in the upper levels, which promotes sinking air, sunshine, and heat.  According to the latest models, we'll see low to mid 90's Saturday through at least Wednesday, with Monday and Tuesday looking like the hottest days of this stretch.

Finally, while our weather will remain pretty standard for July, there has been some extreme weather lately, both here on planet Earth and in outer space. First, here on Earth, you may have heard about a somewhat rare storm called a "haboob" which took place in Phoenix on Tuesday night.  A massive dust storm seemed to swallow up the city as an outflow boundary from a thunderstorm to the north near Tucson stirred up all sorts of dust from the Arizona desert.  If you haven't seen any of the videos from this event, you can check out the video and read more about these storms here.

Meanwhile, on Saturn, a storm that is being referred to as "the tempest from hell" continues to rage on for the 8th month.  This storm is being described as a thunderstorm that is as wide as Earth, with lightning that is 10,000 times more powerful than that on Earth, flashing up to 10 times per second.  Apparently, this storm corresponds with Saturn's summer solstice....and is similar to the summertime-type storms we experience here.  For more on this story, click here.