CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Abundant Gulf moisture lifted by an upper-level trough brought showers to the Coastal Bend today and Friday. Expect a warm and humid weekend ahead of a much colder and wetter start to the week ahead. Afternoon temperatures will surge into the upper 80s today through Sunday, with overnight readings hovering in the middle to lower 70s. A steady southeasterly flow will keep high levels of humidity in place, so heat index values will continue to peak in the upper 90s each afternoon.
Big changes are store for early next week, however, with a strong cold front sweeping into the region in the pre-dawn hours on Monday. A Canadian airmass behind the front will plunge temperatures 25 to 30 degrees from Sunday to Monday, with daytime readings struggling to make it to 60 degrees the first half of the week. Overnights will dip into the 50s Monday morning, then deep into the 40s by midweek. Showers and thunderstorms will accompany the frontal passage, with showery conditions persisting through late Tuesday before high pressure dries the region. Rainfall totals will be up to an inch between now and Tuesday.
The tropics are quieter for now, but not entirely so. Hurricane Tammy in the Atlantic is now a post-tropical remnant with hurricane force winds. The system is no threat to land. In the Eastern Pacific, eyes are on Tropical Wave 92E about 200 miles west of Central America. Models are undecided about future motion of the system, but concur that it is likely to become a tropical depression or tropical storm this weekend. If it moves north, as expected, its moisture will contribute to our rain chances early next week.