Hot and mostly dry conditions are expected over the next several days as our typical summertime pattern continues.  Aside from some small chances for pop up showers and storms across west Texas, much like we’re seeing today, and a slight chance of seeing a few widely scattered storms across the panhandle region as a “cool” front settles into the region by tomorrow…there’s just not much hope.  This cool front may help drop temps a few degrees and reduce the chance of seeing an extension of the current Heat Advisories across the area tomorrow, but we’ll see temps there creep right back up into the 100 to 110 range by Wednesday.  Aside from the heat, there’s only one other weather-related highlight to discuss.  For those living along the coast, if you’ve been wondering where all the haze is coming from, it’s a combination of Saharan dust making its way across the Atlantic into the Gulf of Mexico…and smoke from agricultural fires burning in various locations across Mexico and Central America.  This will likely continue on and off through the end of the week before we see much of a change in mid and upper level winds to swoosh it off in a different direction.

Highs on Tuesday, quite warm and remaining at least a few degrees above normal for the remainder of the week.  Folks in the panhandle and parts of western Texas will see highs averaging about 10 degrees above average for the next several days.  Elsewhere, mainly 3-5 degrees above where we should be in mid-July.

Heat Index readings will drop a few degrees tomorrow across the panhandle but higher humidity further east and south will raise heat index readings into the 102 to 108+ degree range by tomorrow afternoon. That muggy and pretty miserable any way you look at it.  Try to avoid engaging in outdoor activities during the middle of the afternoon if at all possible.  At least it will continue to be breezy tomorrow afternoon which will make it feel a little less oppressive.  The dog days of summer are here!  Want to know the origins of that phrase?  Check it out here! Dog Days of Summer