WLOX Digital Desk weather forecast with Meteorologist Taylor Graham

e e good afternoon south Mississippi meteorologist Taylor Graham here just giving in a quick update on the forecast and talking a little bit about some of the rainfall Des deficits that we've had this month I've heard a few complaints on Facebook that we haven't had enough rain around the area and some of you are saying that your plants may be suffering a little bit your yards may be getting a little bit crunchy especially in this high heat that we've been dealing with this summer it is humid out outside it's hot that's not going to change and I actually unfortunately lowered our rain chances just a little bit heading into the weekend so we'll go ahead and take a look at that forecast for the rest of today still could see a few spotty showers and storms but they've really struggle to get going at this point some of us may get lucky enough to get a little bit more of that much needed rainfall but it looks like many of us are going to end up uh staying dry today rain chances are looking even smaller once we get past the sunset this evening it's a beautiful but hot day check it out 97 in golf court 97 Bay St Louis looks like we're seeing some of those mid to uper 90s over into Jackson County this afternoon and when you consider how humid it is we've seen the heat index right around 105 a little bit higher than that in some spots a good bit of sunshine with some passing clouds right now like I said we've had a hard time getting some of these showers and thunderstorms to get going this afternoon looks like they do see a few more of those often parts of the Florida Panhandle but here locally the rain has just been very spotty and while we still could see a few spotty showers and storms this afternoon I just don't want anyone to get their hopes up too high good news is by tomorrow and through the end of the week we do have more chances of seeing some showers and storms but a lot of the moisture right now is either right on the coast or just offshore we can see that on radar with all of those showers and thunderstorms over the water heads out heads up to boers if you're going to be heading out this evening it does look like we will keep some of those showers and thunderstorms in place over the next few hours as we take a look at what's going on in the upper levels we did see an upper level low yesterday move across the Gulf of Mexico that has moved off into Texas and that helped to bring some higher rain chances to parts of Texas today we're also noticing a little bit more cloud cover up to our North that's where we have the center of a ridge of high pressure and funny enough they've been dealing with some pretty extreme heat in parts of the Midwest today that kind of heat that we typically get around here but they don't get as much of uh compared to us going back to that moisture again we can see we've got a little bit more of that moisture right along the Gulf Coast right now drier air to our North and we may be right on that edge to where we just don't get as many showers and thunderstorms to pop up today and like we have seen on radar most of the rainfall has been offshore at this time and then going back to the heat like I said uh where we have that Big Ridge of high pressure that's where they have been dealing with some pretty intense or even extreme heat in parts of the Midwest and that includes Chicago which that is definitely considered to be an urban heat island in the middle of the city uh could get extremely hot so thoughts go out to them it's definitely a feeling a lot like summer up into Parts in the midwest typically we think that they're a little bit cooler but today that that is not the case and we can see that they 96 all the way up in Chicago they're pretty much just as hot as us 96 in Cincinnati we're seeing those upper 90s into Memphis close to 100 one can dream of being out in the Pacific Northwest right now with temperatures in the 60s and 70s feeling a lot more comfortable there but this is the last week of August and as to be expected it is hot and humid here along the Gulf Coast and I don't foresee that changing not only throughout the rest of this month but also heading into our Labor Day weekend some spots in the country consider Labor Day kind of like an unofficial start of fall I think a lot of us has spend enough enough time around here to know that Labor Day weekend doesn't really mean a whole lot when it comes to our weather it's still going to be hot and humid and so throughout the rest of today temperature- wise we're going to stay in the 90s for the most part maybe a few spotty showers just don't get your hopes up too high but those of us that get the rain will be able to cool down a little bit could wake up tomorrow morning with a few Coast poal showers here or there and by tomorrow afternoon we do have another chance for Hit or Miss showers and thunderstorms some of us may get caught under some heavy rain others of us may completely miss out but if you miss in on the rain today and tomorrow you do have another chance of seeing that on Thursday Friday and even into our holiday weekend we have a fairly decent chance of seeing some hit or mist or even scattered showers and thunderstorms that could impact your weekend plans I know a lot of people have a long weekend heads up on that but but like I've been talking about we could use a little more rain around here and if everything comes together some spots especially closer to the coast could be picking up an additional inch inch and a half of rainfall over the next 5 days that's not set in stone but there is a little bit more hope as we head into the rest of the week or the end of the weekend into the weekend and like I talked about earlier I know a lot of people needing a little bit more rain for their plants their Garden their yards we're not considered to be under a drought just yet but we're one step away from that we are considered abnormally dry across all of south Mississippi now I know some very localized areas maybe have had some stronger thunderstorms this summer but this is a broader picture of what's going on uh along parts of the Gulf Coast and even looks like maybe just to our North and parts of the Pine Belt they are not quite as dry but overall especially for the month of August we running a bit of a deficit for rainfall not as bad in Gulfport normal month to-day rainfall at this time is about 5 Ines and 3/4 we are running a little bit under that what's interesting though is that for the year we're still considered to be in a surplus of rain it's just that overall this past month haven't seen as much rainfall like we usually do GOP not in as bad of shape as what we've been seeing near Moss Point and pasula that's where the rainfall deficit for this month is uh getting pretty impressive to say impressive what I mean is a little bit drastic uh because Normal month today rainfall from Moss Point is even close to seven Ines and we are running a big deficit on that Surplus for the year but again as a whole the month of August has been pretty dry and so if we don't start seeing more of these showers and thunderstorms this week or even into next week we could be dealing with some drought conditions we will get a new drought monitor on Thursday I am curious to see if they are going to be upgrading us uh further in terms of our drought status one thing I can guarantee this week is the heat the humidity still going to be incredibly humid especially through the work week there may be a tiny dip in the humidity at some point this weekend doesn't look like it's going to be drastic but we'll take anything that we can get high temperatures over the next several days at the very least likely going to be in the low 90s today it seems like we are even hotter than that high temperatures actually today have already reached the upper 90s so we just got in that latest update as at 2 o' seems like we may need to adjust that forecast a little bit just based on what we've been seeing overall though plenty of heat over the next six to seven days but again that's typical for this time of the year average highs for the end of August right around 90 and the Tropics not really looking at a ton of activity to track right now but if you missed it the National Hurricane Center as of last night did highight highl light an area where we could see some tropical development over the next 5 to seven days at this point we don't even have an area of low pressure located in that that area of low pressure is expected to develop over the next couple of days or so and as it moves over the open Atlantic it could become a tropical depression or tropical storm but because this hasn't even formed yet it's far too early to know where exactly it may go how strong it could get just a heads up that we may be seeing a little a little bit more activity in the tropics over the next week and that's also to be expected we are getting into the very heart or peak of hurricane season where we typically start to see more tropical storms depressions even hurricanes as well fingers crossed we don't have to deal with any of that in the Gulf of Mexico but this is a good reminder uh to go over your hurricane preparedness plans just in case something does spin up and as always we will continue to watch that throughout the rest of hurricane season but but at least for the time being it is our classic summer weather around here lots of heat humidity each day brings a chance for some hitter Miss showers and storms I know we could use a little bit more rain around the area some of us will look out and get that much need of rainfall others of us maybe not so much not one particular day it looks like it's going to be a complete wash out and rain is not a guarantee for everybody within the next uh five to seven days but it's better than not having any chance of rain at all so hopefully those of you that need a little bit more rainfall uh look out on that so fingers crossed you can get a little bit of relief not only uh from these dry conditions but also maybe even more so from some of the heat so with that uh I'm going to wrap it up just to recap hot humid hit orous showers and storms Tropics still fairly quiet right now we could see something develop out in the open Atlantic uh we will continue to watch for any changes we we will have the latest updates on the forecast and what's going on in the tropics coming up today at 4:00 during our hourlong 4:00 show uh so hopefully you will be tuning into to that and we will have a new updated 7-day forecast at this point with the latest high temperatures and our latest rain chances for now hopefully everyone can stay cool and maybe do a little bit of a rain dance for