Bob Peters Forecast

Wednesday was warm and windy in the region, with continuing gusty winds and another wind advisory for Thursday. A crossing upper air disturbance could bring some widely scattered showers to the region both Friday and Saturday afternoons. Areal coverage both days should be under 25 percent, with amounts either day under one-fourth inch. There is an increasing likelihood of showers from south to north.

Skies were again cloudy in the entire region around daybreak, with clearing by mid-morning and partly cloudy conditions with fair-weather cumulus during the afternoon. Wednesday’s temperatures ran near Tuesday’s, and were about 6 degrees above normal. Temperatures on Thursday should be similar, with slightly lower readings forecast for Friday. Morning low readings Wednesday were slightly higher due to the stronger overnight winds. Minimum temperatures were from the lower to upper 70s.

Low readings Thursday thr-ough Saturday mornings should also run in the 70s. Afternoon high temperatures Wednesday were a degree or so lower than Tuesday’s and for the same reason higher winds. Maximum temperatures ran from near 90 in the north to the lower 90s in the south. High temperatures both Thursday and Friday should decline a degree or so each day.

Winds were southerly at 15-20 mph overnight, and increased to 15-25 mph with gusts to near 35 mph during the day. Similar winds are forecast for Thursday, with a slight decrease in velocity forecast for Friday. The strong winds were the result of deepening low pressure over the Southern Plains.

This was in response to an upper air low over the Western United States the source for the disturbance forecast to cross the Plains later in the week.

The Sub-Tropical upper air high pressure ridge is re-positioning itself, sliding to the area’s south.

After the disturbance passes, it should re-build to the north late in the weekend, suppressing showers and increasing temperatures. By the middle of next week, a tropical wave, in the mid-Atlantic Wednesday, may reach the Western Gulf of Mexico, This could return shower chances to East Texas at that time. Tyler’s highest sustaining wind Wednesday was southerly at 26 mph with a peak gust of 32 mph, and an average velocity of 17.0 mph. Tuesday’s average wind velocity was 16.1 mph. Wednesday’s average relative humidity was 62 percent, with similar values likely Thursday and higher values likely Friday. Tuesday’s average was 63 percent.