CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Skies will remain generally fair through next week as upper-level high pressure continues to bring excessive heat and humidity, although a weak disturbance may bring stray showers on Tuesday. The massive and persistent upper-level ridge now over Texas will gradually shift northwest into the Southern Rockies by early next week, allowing a weak tropical wave to move through South Texas. The disturbance will induce stray to isolated showers and a few thunderstorms. Don't count on much rain, with the mid-levels of the atmosphere still dry and generally stable.
Temperatures will remain well above normal, with afternoons around 100 degrees and mornings from the upper 70s to around 80. Heat indices will surge to between 114 and 123 degrees, so an Excessive Heat Warning in effect for today likely will be reissued for Saturday and Sunday. Strong southeasterly winds will dictate choppy bays and 3 to 5 foot seas, in addition to moderate rip current risks. A Small Craft Advisory in effect today also will be in force on Saturday. Furthermore, with the strong, gusty wind and very dry brush, elevated fire danger may prompt another Red Flag Warning this afternoon and again on Saturday for inland Coastal Bend regimes.
The tropics remain un-threatening to the Coastal Bend. The Atlantic Basin remains quiet, for now. The Eastern Pacific is very active, with one disturbance several hundred miles southwest of Mexico likely to become a tropical depression late this weekend. The system is moving west, however, away from North America. A second disturbance just off the Central American coast has a 50/50 chance of becoming a tropical depression by early next week as it moves west-northwest, parallel to the Central America and southern Mexican coast.
