Four Things To Watch In This Week's Weather

Linda Lam
Published: August 6,2017
An unusual weather pattern for early-to-mid August will bring another week of interesting weather to parts of the country.
The second week of August will see a similar pattern to this past week, with an upper-level ridge, or northward bulge of the jet stream, over the Northwest and an upper-level trough, or southward dip in the jet stream, over the central and eastern U.S.
Below we examine what this means for the weather stories we will be watching in the week ahead.

1) Wet Pattern in the South, East

Heavy rain will impact areas from the Plains to the East in the week ahead.
The first system will slide from the central Plains to the East Coast early week. This system could bring a few severe thunderstorms to parts of Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas on Sunday and possibly to the mid-Atlantic on Monday.

Next Week's Forecast

The front associated with this low-pressure system will linger across portions of the South into at least midweek, resulting in numerous scattered showers and thunderstorms.
Ample moisture from the Gulf of Mexico will bring a widespread area of 1 to 3 inches of rainfall from northern Texas and southeastern Oklahoma into the Carolinas. Locally heavier amounts are likely, and flash flooding will be possible in some locations.
(MAPS: Weekly Planner)

2) Northwest Heat Wave Continues

The upper-level ridge of high pressure that has been in place over the Pacific Northwest will remain over the region for most of this week.
Consequently, the heat wave will likely persist, although temperatures will not be quite as extreme in most places as last week.
(MORE: Northwest Heat Wave Breaks Record Highs)

Forecast Highs

Temperatures up to 15 degrees warmer than average are expected for Washington, western and northern Oregon, northern Idaho and western Montana. Although it will be hot, this is not record high territory for most locations.
Seattle can expect highs around 90 degrees until midweek, while Portland will bake in highs in the mid-90s.
In addition to the heat, dry conditions are expected to prevail. Seattle may set a record for longest streak of days without measurable precipitation this week. The current record is 51 days set in 1951, and through Saturday, the current dry streak is at 49 days.

3) Cool August in Central, Eastern U.S.

The upper-level trough over the eastern U.S. will bring a cool, northwesterly flow through the week ahead.
Temperatures 10 to 15 degrees cooler than average will be common throughout the Plains and into portions of the Midwest.

Forecast Highs

Highs will top out in the 70s to lower 80 for the northern and central Plains, as well as portions of the Midwest, while 80s are expected into Oklahoma and northern Texas. Much of this region will also see lows generally in the 50s to lower 60s.
(MORE: Cool First Half of August)
Parts of the South and East will also see temperatures slightly below average, although it will be humid across the South where dew points will rise back into the 70s.
This cool trend may last into mid-August, especially in parts of the Plains, according to the Climate Prediction Center's latest 8 to 14-day outlook.

4) Watching The Tropics

The tropics are beginning to become more active, which is what we expect heading into mid-August.
One area of concern as we head through early week is a tropical wave in the western Caribbean that could develop into a tropical depression or tropical storm.

Current Satellite

This system is expected to track to the west-northwest over the next few days and conditions will likely become more favorable for development when it reaches the northwestern Caribbean Sea and the Bay of Campeche.
There is also the possibility that it moves into Central America and does not develop.
(MORE: Atlantic Is Starting to Bubble With Activity)
The other area we will be keeping an eye on is an area of low pressure in the eastern Atlantic. This system will continue tracking to the west-northwest into early week.

Current Satellite

It could bring locally heavy rain and gusty winds to the Lesser Antilles by midweek.
(MORE: Hurricane Central)
Be sure to check back to weather.com for updates on both of these possible tropical systems.
MORE: Northwest Heat Wave, August 2017 (PHOTOS)

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