On this date in 2001, five people drowned and dozens had to be rescued from rough Gulf of Mexico waters during a two day period of rip currents along the Northwest Florida coast. The rip currents were caused by strong onshore winds that resulted from the combined effects of strong high pressure and the remnants of Tropical Storm Allison. The tropical storm had moved ashore in Texas the day before.

Strong swells from Allison exacerbated the rip tide conditions all along the Gulf Coast. Conditions became so bad that storm warning sirens were actually sounded at Pensacola Beach Victims included a 46 year old Tennessee man who went into the water to rescue his daughters and a 48 year old man who was swimming with his son.

Meanwhile, the outer rain bands from Tropical Storm Allison were dumping heavy rains over Southeast Louisiana. By the 8th, many locations from Baton Rouge south to Thibodeaux were deluged with ten to eighteen inches of rain, producing tremendous flooding. Another round of heavy rains would erupt on the 10th and 11th as Allison’s remnants moved directly over the same area. By the end of the second round, up to thirty inches had fallen in the area around Thibodeaux. Hundreds of homes were flooded. Residents in the Youngsville area of Lafayette Parish had to be rescued by rescue personnel on Sea-Doos!

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How about that radar? Nothing was showing up as I started the map discussion but by the time I had finished a few showers had developed in the area of Pickens, Lamar, and Fayette counties. I'm always amazed at how forecasting the weather can be a humbling experience. I do expect scattered showers today and they are likely to be a little more numerous than the few we saw yesterday afternoon.

What about the central plains yesterday? SPC's storm reports page showed 34 tornadoes in Wisconsin, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Idaho, South Dakota, and Oklahoma. Fortunately, I did not see any reports of deaths or injuries. And KFOR in Oklahoma City was broadcasting live tornado video from their helicopter at one point.

It still looks like our chances for showers will be increasing today and Monday with pretty good chances on Tuesday and Wednesday. As is fairly typical for this time of year, our weather pattern will settle into the monotonous routine of daily scattered showers primarily during the afternoon and evening hours.

Interesting note that the long range GFS - and we know how good that is - was hinting at a front in about two weeks with a northwesterly flow that could knock a few degrees off the heat. My confidence in that is not very high, but we can hope.

Got a real challenge this week as I attempt to fill in for Jason on the morning and noon shows.

Have a great week and God bless,

-Brian-