Hot and mostly dry will be the theme for the weekend and the week ahead as high pressure remains the dominant force across the region.  Not unusual for late summer, but by this point most of us are getting a bit weary of the summer heat and humidity and are anxiously awaiting the first cold front of fall.  We still have a ways to go before that happens, though.

Temps this weekend will top out near or just above seasonal norms, but with dewpoint values along and east of the I-35 corridor remaining in the 60s and low 70s, it will be muggy and continue to push heat index values up close to 105+ range during the afternoon.  The work week ahead will bring much of the same with daily highs topping out in the upper 90s and sticky conditions remaining in place across much of south and southeast Texas into central, north central and northeast Texas.

Rain chances will be sparse this weekend and into the week ahead.  Southeast Texas will see the better chance for daily seabreeze showers as we get into the work week.  Far west Texas up into the rolling plains and southern panhandle will see chances for monsoonal storms later today and tomorrow, but even those chances will decrease as we get into the week ahead.  A cold front will dive south into Oklahoma by Tuesday and clip portions of the panhandle and northwest Texas before stalling out.  This will generate chances for scattered showers and storms along the frontal boundary across the southern panhandle and Red River counties in northwest Texas late Tuesday into Wednesday.  Overall, most of us will remain rain-free this weekend and into next week which does not bode well for our ongoing drought.  As of the latest drought monitor published on Thursday, we continue to see an increase in overall drought conditions with 81% of the state experiencing at least some level of drought.