Wednesday 8/8 Update

Good Wednesday!  Still enjoying some low humidity today, with dew points running in the upper 50's/near 60.  That allowed for another morning low of 63...but we've shot up 100 this afternoon, tying today's record high!  These wide temperature spreads are common on days with very dry air, since land heats up and cools down faster than water (a little physical science for you there).

Not much has changed with regards to the forecast for the next system....still looks like a rather weak piece of energy will arrive across S. IL & SEMO tonight....but it's questionable as to whether there will be enough moisture in place to generate any precip.  Probably just a 20% type deal for tonight.

By tomorrow morning, we'll have a cold front knocking on our door, along with a second, more potent upper-level disturbance:

With that in mind, our chances for showers and thunderstorms will increase as the day wears along...especially in the afternoon and evening.  And I believe folks in the eastern half of the area will have a slightly higher chance of seeing storms, especially east of I-24/57 in S. IL, and in W. KY.  Damaging winds and some hail are possible with some storms, so SPC has included the entire region in their Day 2 Slight Risk:

We'll pass on the wind & hail, but of course we'll take all the rain we can get.  Unfortunately, I'm going to continue to be pessimistic on rainfall totals until Mother Nature proves me wrong.  Bottom line on rainfall...I'd say if you get more than 0.10", you should consider yourself lucky:

 Behind this system, still looks like a nice batch of even cooler and drier air will arrive as high pressure settles in for the start of the weekend:

Saturday most definitely looks like one of the most pleasant days we've had in months....with morning lows perhaps dipping as low as the upper 50's, and afternoon highs in the mid 80's.  The dry air will hang around well into next week, but temperatures will gradually moderate and increase as the week goes on.  Longer range models show another cold front/cool down sometime around next Friday....something worth watching.

Finally, a quick look at the tropics...Ernesto made landfall at around 10PM CDT last night just north of the Mexico/Belize border, with winds around 85 mph.  Doesn't look like it will be able to get very far out into the waters of the Bay of Campeche, so not much restrengthening is expected.  Aside from that storm, the leftovers of what used to be Florence (#2 below) continue to fizzle out....and another Cape Verde disturbance (#3 below) doesn't have the greatest prospects for development: