NEW ORLEANS ( WGNO ) — Highs will reach lower 90s this afternoon. Expect mostly sunny skies throughout the day with occasional passing clouds late afternoon. Rain chances will be very low and showers, short lived. 20% or less of the area will see any sort of shower activity.
As for the tropics, the National Hurricane Center is now highlighting the northern Caribbean with a 40% chance of tropical development over the next week. A broad area of low pressure is likely to form over the weekend. A tropical depression is likely to form in the southern Gulf by this time NEXT WEEK.
What’s in our favor? Extended models are indicating a strong push of cool, dry air across the country during the same time period that the storm will enter the northern Gulf. IF the time of the trough pushing though SELA can line up with the timing of the storm approaching landfall, I believe that we could see this thing take a jog to the east, sparing Louisiana with most, but not all of its potential impacts. If the storm circulates to the east of us, it would then also help to pull in some of that cooler air funneling in from our NNW. There are a lot of variables in place for this forecast. We should all in the meantime re-stock our hurricane staples and have a plan in place.