June Arrives With Plenty of Rainbow Weather & A Familiar Forecast

Happy meteorological summer! Remember your home calendar may say that summer begins June 21st but it is not based on weather, but astronomy. Meteorological summer takes weather, climatology, and the sun angle into account. It officially runs from June 1st through August 31st. This graph says it all!



Sure enough Lafayette's warmest quarter of the year matches up much better with meteorological summer than astronomical summer. Today will certainly feel like summer with highs back into the lower to middle 80s. Even though we are heading into a new month we are stuck in the same old weather pattern. But we have breaking news today in the Deep South. The drought-ravaged areas of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas have much needed rain in the forecast. You can thank the tropics. Quick-moving tropical storms can be very good news as many farmers in Florida like to say. Just keep away those slow-moving tropical storms and hurricanes. Well, it looks like they got their wish as you can see below.



This is a big reminder that it is the first day of hurricane season. Right on cue we do have tropical development in the Caribbean Sea. The tropics are really flaring up. This satellite picture shows plenty of storms starting to organize around an area of low pressure just southeast of the Yucatan Peninsula.

If this storm becomes better organized it would be called Tropical Storm Barry. I do not think it will have enough time to become a hurricane before it makes landfall over the Florida peninsula by Saturday evening. This is the best of both worlds for Florida because it will also be a heavy rain producer.

I already called Mom and Dad in Jacksonville and they are ecstatic. Many areas of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas will see at least 1 to 2 inches of rain with more than 4 inches possible in some spots! Many prayers have been answered. Areas like West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale are running amazing 20 inch rain deficits over the last 2 years. This will also help diminish the horrible forest fires in the Southeast that have been so bad a smoky haze has blanketed the Lafayette skies with a dim haze for the last couple weeks.


Courtesy of Marliese Martin in Otterbein

We should call this good news Friday, because this tropical system will impact our weather by keeping us in a very slow-moving pattern with very little change in the weather the next few days. Our plans should not be ruined even though we will keep a chance of a few hit and miss thunderstorms in the forecast through the weekend. Be on the outlook for rainbows, because any rain we do receive should be brief before the sun pops back out. Make sure to turn your back to the sun when looking for rainbows after nature's free watering.



The cool picture of the day shows a storm system to our West that looks like an inland hurricane. Even though it looks a bit scary it is actually a sign of a dying storm system because it is wrapping in a ton of dry air. This means you can hold those garage sales and head to the pools here at home this weekend. Join me tonight on WLFI for more on your weekend forecast and your June Outlook. Will it stay hot? I will have your answer and also post it here on the blog next week. Have a great weekend.