With upper-air high pressure over the southern U.S., hot afternoons and humid nights will prevail through the weekend. Expect stray showers on Sunday, with better rain chances midweek. Meanwhile, afternoon temperatures will remain in the upper 90s to near 100, while overnights will drop into the middle to upper 70s. A Heat Advisory is in effect today from Noon through 7 pm.
Chances for meaningful rainfall will rely on the position of the upper-level ridge as is moves to a position west and southwest of the region. The further it translates away from South Texas, the better our chances of rain. It appears that isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms will accompany a weak cold front into the Coastal Bend late Tuesday through Wednesday, tapering off early Thursday. Precise rainfall totals are uncertain. Additional critical information will give us a better ideal of how much rainfall we will receive.
In the tropics, Hurricane Lee is gaining strength in the Atlantic and will become a major hurricane by Friday. It is expected to remain away from the U.S. but threaten Bermuda early next week. Another disturbance northwest of Cabo Verde has a high chance of becoming a tropical depression or tropical storm by this weekend, but it will remain in open waters. In the Eastern Pacific, Hurricane Jova is a Category 5 storm but, thankfully, will remain in opens waters and only be a threat to marine navigation.