August 24 – Weather forecast update for Shreveport, Texarkana

The chance of rain returns and the heat continues

For the first time in a long time, the chance of rain in scattered areas returns to the ArkLaTex on Friday. Extreme heat will likely continue to break records through the weekend. A cold front brings cooler air and a better chance of rain on Monday.

Dangerous hot weather continues: Despite the fact that we saw some intermittent areas of rain on Thursday, temperatures continued to rise. Today and tomorrow’s record high temperature in Shreveport of 103 degrees will likely be easily broken. Thursday night temperatures will be very similar to what we have seen all week. Friday morning temperatures will likely start out in the 70s and low 80s. Daytime highs on Friday will likely meet or exceed 105 across much of the region. The temperature index on Friday will remain at dangerous levels, ranging between 110 and 115 degrees. Don’t expect much rest over the weekend.

Keep the rain hope alive! Any of the small areas of rain that were able to develop over our area today will quickly give way to clear to partly cloudy skies Thursday night. Futurecast and other high-resolution models continue to show that we will see slightly better coverage of random showers on Friday afternoon. Expect the rain to end quickly Friday evening as we will see partly cloudy skies Friday night. Saturday will likely bring another chance of scattered showers, but coverage will likely decrease. Rain chances will increase slightly again on Sunday and look more promising for Monday and Monday night as a cold front moves through the area. Behind the front, any hope of rain will end on Tuesday as cold, dry air moves into the area.

Just how much rain? We are very dry, and we will rejoice in any rain we get in the coming days. The majority of long-range models show that total precipitation between now and next week will likely be in the ¼ to ½ range. It is possible that some lucky spots will catch more than 1 inch. Some may feel disappointed. The long-term model mix remains somewhat pessimistic with 10-day totals keeping below ¼ inch for all of the region.

Gulf of Mexico storm next week? Some global models show that we could see a tropical system developing near Yucatán late this weekend. As of now, if this system develops, it looks like it will move across the southeastern Gulf toward the west coast of Florida. The National Hurricane Center indicates that there is a moderate chance of this system developing. Obviously, since we are talking about something that has not yet evolved, things could change.

Could the 1960s come back? It still looks promising that we will see more normal daytime temperatures through the middle of next week. Highs will likely fall into the low to mid 90s by Tuesday. Models continue to trend downward at overnight lows next week. It now appears that most of the area may drop into the 60s next Wednesday and Thursday night. Unfortunately, models also continue to point to another warm trend late next week. We could see more triple-digit heat by next weekend. Stay tuned.