Excessive Heat Moves Out As Rain Moves In
We’ve just experienced the warmest weather of the summer so far, with the highest temperature of the year recorded on Tuesday, July 27th, at 97.5 degrees. High humidity contributed to a maximum heat index of 106.2 degrees on the same day. The extreme heat has not been helped by a lack of precipitation — with no real rainfall at my house since the hurricanes ended back on July 12th.
Of course, with weather like this, rain happens where it falls, which may not be everywhere. Hartsfield-Jackson Airport recorded 1.3 inches of rain since the 12th, and Athens has had 1.9 official inches of rain. Some friends of mine are working on a major remodeling project in Decatur that involves rebuilding the roof - they’ve been plagued by rain. But here, less than 1/2 inch has fallen.
The ridge on the east coast that has been responsible for our stretch of uncomfortable weather is finally weakening, and a cold front is approaching Atlanta from the northwest. That front is responsible for the showers in the area yesterday and today — although no rain fell where I am. However, the front is expected to become stationary over North Georgia over the weekend, and forecasters are predicting up to 2 inches of rain between Saturday and Sunday.
Longer term, we are likely to see temperatures in the upper 80s to low 90s through the first part of August. Another heat wave is predicted for the Midwest during the latter part of that period, and it’s unclear whether it will move into our area.
Tropical Storm Franklin is slowly moving his way towards Greenland, and isn’t likely to affect our weather. Meanwhile a dust storm and area of dry air has limited the initiation of tropical weather off the coast of Africa. As this diminishes, we might see some tropical weather affecting the area in the next week or two — and we’re almost certain to see more tropical weather before the season ends in November.
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