Thursday Afternoon / September 2

On this Thursday... surface high pressure is situated over Virginia.. North Carolina and the eastern U. S. seaboard with an area of low pressure area extending southward over eastern Colorado and eastern New Mexico. A southeastward moving cold front extends from the southwestern Nebraska southwestward into Colorado.

In the upper levels of the atmosphere.. upper air high pressure is over the eastern United States with a trough.. or line.. of low pressure extending southward from southern Canada and the northern and central United States. Relatively light and variable winds aloft across Texas should become a little more northwesterly over the next 24 hours as the trough moves eastward over the northern United States.

With the surface high to the east and surface low pressure to the west along with the upper air low pressure area along the west coast.. south southeasterly surface winds continue across our area with low level moisture continuing to move northwestward into the area. As the atmosphere
becomes more unstable ahead of tomorrow's cold front.. widely scattered to scattered rain showers and thunderstorms are possible over the area today into tonight.

By midday tomorrow.. a cold front is forecast to move south southeastward through south central Texas. I expect the cold front to move through our area with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms along and ahead of the front.

After the front passes tomorrow, rain chances will diminish quickly and slightly cooler and much drier air will build into the area Friday afternoon into Friday night and Saturday as surface high pressure builds into our area. Daytime high temperatures and nighttime low temperatures, in the wake of the front, are expected to cool a few degrees to near seasonal averages for this time of year.

As quickly as the front moves through the area, southeasterly wind and return low level moisture will return just as quickly to the area by Sunday into Labor Day as the surface high pressure area moves east of the area.

In the tropics.. things continue busy with category 4 hurricane Earl over the Atlantic. As the hurricane approaches and then parallels offshore the U. S. coast by into the Labor Day weekend, watches and warnings are posted all along the eastern seaboard from North Carolina northward to Virginia through the remainder of the coastal northeast. Tropical storm Fiona is north of Puerto Rico and is forecast to turn northward and is forecast to be near Bermuda by Sunday. In addition, tropical cyclone Gaston is over the Atlantic Ocean about 1500 miles east of the Leeward Islands. This system is forecast to approach the northern Leeward Islands as a hurricane by the early and middle part of next week. At this point, I still do not see any effect.. down the road.. from any of these systems as far as the Gulf of Mexico is concerned.

For Austin and surrounding communities.. it will continue partly cloudy today into tonight with a 30% chance of rain showers and thunderstorms. Daytime highs will be in the 95 to 99 degree range and overnight lows of 75 to 79 degrees. South southeasterly surface winds will continue in the 5 to 10 mph
range. A cold front will move through the area tomorrow morning into midday with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms. Winds will shift northerly with highs tomorrow  of 89 to 93.

Have a good Thursday night and Friday...

Meteorologist Troy Kimmel