While wondering of Portland, OR will ever hit 90 this year...they've yet to do it and it's only happened once that they've never done it before and that would be 1954. By the way...that was a scorching summer for the KC area as well.

Speaking of which...here is where we stand, summer wise. June was 2.4 degrees above average, July was 4.7 above average and so far, with August about 1/2 done, we're running about 3 degrees above average. It's been hot for sure, but for at least a few days, starting tomorrow, we may be BELOW average with highs in the 80-85 range and lows in the lower 60s...overall not bad at all by mid August standards.

High pressure is building southwards through the Plains states and porviding a pretty decent airmass for this time of the year. Temperatures to the north are in the 70s and that air, while modified somewhat, will be pushing into the area overnight tonight, setting the stage for a great Sunday in the region.

If your wondering about the searing heat that's been gripping the southern plains for the last couple of months...well that too has been pushed well to the south...all the way south to the Lufkin-Austin, TX area. Dallas broke their 100 streak a couple of days ago...and today may be Waco's turn. As of this writing Waco is reporting 87 degrees with cloudy skies. Take a look at their streaks...

Click on that image to make it larger...44 days is impressive but today that streak is going to be snapped. As a bonus, some much needed rainfall, to say the least, has fallen through the N TX area around the I-20 corridor overnight and this AM...

I actually felt good for them this AM as as I saw the regional radar...can't imagine what things look like down there and what the farmer's are going through. This isn't by no means a drought buster, but for a least a day or two, the parched ground is relieved.

Speaking of the drought, the NWS in Pleasant Hill has put together a fantastic piece about where we stand in these parts concerning the dry spell we've been going through. No sooner than they take the time to put that together, then the metro see's some wonderfully beneficial rainfall yesterday. Some did get missed for sure, but it was certainly most welcome. A lot of the areas that have been missed lately with the spotty and sporadic rainfall did get into the .5-1.0" rainfall tallies.

Meanwhile in the tropics, another named storm formed this AM, Franklin is out in the tropicall Atlantic, a concern to only shipping, and there are several other areas that bear watching...here is a look at the active season thus far, 6 named storms, but all have really not been that significant.

Interesting to note that the GFS, which is usually horrendous with a capital H on these systems, takes #3 and slowly intensifies it over the next 3-5 days, brings it through the Carribean then into the Gulf then into SE TX, then right up towards the KC area by the 28th. Hint on this forecast, don't bet the house on the chance of it being right.

What is interesting is that, while we may heat back up a little, nothing long term, in looking at the longer range pattern, there appears better than decent chances than a strong pacific disturbance will ride through the US/Canadian border and then dive into the Great Lakes area, this would then place the ridge well south of here and squeeze the hottest air back towards the SW part of the country and  through the Rockies. So while there could be a couple of hotter days ahead of some cold fronts, there does appear to be increasing chances of decent cold fronts every few days, and as a result maybe more rain chances!


That's it for today,  have a great weekend!



Joe