THE RAIN IS OVER...SUNSHINE RETURNS BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON....VERY COMFORTABLE WEATHER THROUGH FRI...THEN A HOT & HUMID WEEKEND

11:05 PM WEDNESDAY UPDATE:

After a fairly quiet Wednesday morning across East Texas, showers and thunderstorms fired up rapidly during the lunch hour right over the Tyler area and then increased in coverage and intensity as they moved eastward and southeastward across the eastern and southern portions of East Texas. Thunderstorm wind damage occurred in parts of Rusk, San Augustine and Sabine counties and lightning strikes caused power outages in several counties in those southern and eastern areas. The cold front is still in the process of moving across East Texas and therefore we haven't seen the clouds clearing out yet, but the vast majority of the shower and thunderstorm activity is certainly over and from this point on we will see nothing more than a sprinkle or a little mist here and there during the late night and early morning hours. Rain totals have been quite varialble across East Texas with most amounts less than a third of an inch to the north of Interstate 20. However some areas between Palestine and Jacksonville received over and inch of rain, as well as some areas between Tyler and Henderson. Farther to the southeast, totals were even heavier with Laneville in southern Rusk county picking up over an inch and a half of rain while some Doppler radar estimates in the area between Center, San Augustine and Hemphill were in the 2 to 4 inch range! Our weather watcher, Dave Gaspart, in Fairmount in southern Sabine county called in the heaviest official report with 3.25"! Offically Tyler Pounds Field received 0.43" and the East Texas Regional Airport in Longview measured 0.17". Even though the rain is gone, some "backlash" moisture in the form of a deck of low clouds will probably linger for the rest of the night and into Thursday morning. By Thursday afternoon the lower atmosphere should begin to dry out and the result should be increasing amounts of sunshine by mid or late afternoon and early evening.

Temperatures will be below normal right on through Friday morning as highs on Thursday should only be in the upper 70s and lower 80s and with drier air in control Thursday night will be significantly cooler than normal with lows dropping into the upper 50s in many areas. However, as is often the case this time of year, cooler weather doesn't last very long and this time will be no exception. The cooler air mass will quickly modify and heat back up by Friday causing high temperatures to jump back into the lower to middle 80s under bright sunshine. Friday night will still be very nice with clear skies and temperatures dropping into the lower to middle 60s. On Saturday, the warm-up will accelerate with sunny skies and southerly winds returning causing high temperatures to jump to around 90...and the humidity will begin to come back up as well thanks to those south winds from off of the Gulf of Mexico. Then look for partly to mostly sunny, hot and humid weatehr for Sunday through Tuesday with low temperatures back up near 70 and highs mostly in the lower 90s. The "heat pump" upper level high pressure system may break down during the later part of next week allowing a cool front to come close enough to perhaps trigger some thunderstorms by late Wednesday or Thursday.

Forecast Details:

OVERNIGHT: Mostly cloudy and humid with some patchy fog....but nothing more than a few sprinkles here and there. Low temperatures near 65. Winds NW 5-10 mph.

DURING THE DAY THURSDAY: Morning low clouds, then gradual clearing during the midday and afaternoon hours with skies becoming mostly sunny as the humidity drops. High temperature near 80. Winds NNW 10-15 mph.

THURSDAY NIGHT: Clear clear and noticeably cooler. Lows: 55-60.

FRIDAY: Sunny and warm by afternoon, but with continued relatively low humidity. High: 84. Winds E 5 mph.

FRIDAY NIGHT: Clear and mild. Low 64.

SATURDAY: Sunny and becoming very warm. High 91. Winds SSE 5-10 mph.

SUNDAY: Mostly sunny and continued warm and more humid. Low 70, High 91. Winds S 5-15 mph.

MONDAY through WEDNESDAY: Mostly sunny to Partly cloudy, very warm & humid. Lows near 70, Highs near 90. Winds S 5-15 mph. A few thunderstorms are possibly late Wednesday, especially in northern and western areas.

Scott Chesner