A large ridge of high pressure over the eastern states will continue to be in control of our weather pattern through the day Wednesday. The ridge extends from the Gulf of Mexico toward the coastal Carolinas, and it is expected to drift a bit more to the east. As this happens, our winds will turn to the southeast and begin to move in some added moisture and warmer temperatures. The next cold front of the season will approach the state Thursday, increasing humidity levels and the slight chance for rain. The front should clear the area by late Friday afternoon, allowing for cooler and drier air to arrive for the weekend.
We will continue to see clear skies Wednesday morning with some patchy fog possible by daybreak. Lows will not be as cool as previous nights, and they will generally fall into the low- to mid-60s. Wednesday will feature more of the same with just some extra clouds scattered about and high temperatures in the mid- to upper-80s. As the front moves into the area Thursday, we will see an increase in cloud cover over the area and a slight chance for rain late in the afternoon and evening. Highs on Thursday will top out in the mid-80s under partly cloudy skies.
The best chance of rain this week will be during the day on Halloween when the cold front moves through the area. This will have a broken line of showers and isolated thunderstorms associated with it that should begin to clear by late Friday afternoon. Most should shift to our south by late in the day. Trick-or-treaters in our southern counties may have to be on guard for some rain early in the evening. The sun will set at 6:41 p.m. Behind this front awaits cooler, drier air that will settle in just in time for the weekend.
In the tropics, short-lived Tropical Storm Hanna was quickly downgraded to a tropical depression and then remnant low last evening as it pushed inland. What is left of the remnant low has emerged into the Western Caribbean off of the coast of Honduras and Belize and is being monitored for organization and development as Invest 96. Just to the east of the Lesser Antilles, an area of low pressure is being watched for potential development and has been given the classification Invest 95. Invest 95 is expected to stay well east of North America. Otherwise, tropical storm formation is not expected this week.
