Acadiana finally got a good dose of rainfall Wednesday with most picking up at least a quarter of an inch of rain. Many areas getting considerably more, with a few isolated locations seeing several inches of rain. After a hot and dry June, the rain is welcomed, not just to relieve the drought conditions, but also give us a break from the extreme heat.
Thursday should bring continued rainfall with chances being relatively high for the entire day. Scattered showers and thunderstorms will move across the area during the early morning hours, with activity increasing throughout the day. Ample moisture and an unstable atmosphere will combine for widespread rainfall. This will also be enhanced by a trough northwest of the area, allowing the moisture to pool along the Gulf coast.
Expect mostly cloudy skies today, with on and off rainfall. Thunderstorms are more likely later in the day, with some heavy downpours possible. Most areas will see between a quarter and a half inch of rain on average. Some slow moving storms could be efficient rain producers again, so like Wednesday, some isolated rainfall totals could be several inches. These particular storms could bring some brief urban street flooding, but because of the lack of rain over the past several weeks, the risk of river/bayou or widespread flooding is fairly low. Fortunately the cloud cover should help keep temperatures around 90 for a high.
Friday it appears conditions will be similar to today, so rainfall is expected to continue with some heavy downpours likely. Highs Friday will run in the lower 90s. By Saturday, rain chances will stay on the high side, but should be confined to the afternoon and early evening hours.
Looking ahead toward Sunday and next week, a ridge will start building again, which should drop some of the rain chances. Although it appears things will dry out over the western sections more, with chances of rain still possible over the eastern half of Acadiana. Temperatures are expected to climb again next week.
Tropical weather remains quiet. Just a few tropical waves are noted over the western Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean. Nothing looking too interesting, and the National Hurricane Center is saying no development is expected over the next several days.
