A very cool day here in North Georgia with temperatures running 15 degrees below normal. We hit a high today of 74.8F at 4:03 pm, compared to 96.9F at the same time on Wednesday. I cool NE breeze helped to keep the rain away also. It was a very interesting wind pattern across the SE today. See the attached image!
Next week brings another warm up and the models are once again showing temperatures in the upper 90's as the models show another shot of very warm temperatures as the upper level ridge attempts to move eastward. I believe though that the Northeast US remains under a trough which will likely keep us in between the unbearable heat further west, and the unsettled and cooler weather in the east. In fact, the pattern that we were stuck in for much of June appears to be the pattern we will be in for the second half of July due to a persistant -NAO. A negative NAO this time of year is typically associated with warmer-than-normal temperatures and drier-than-normal conditions in the southern Plains and Southeast. Even though the NAO is attempting to approach neutral right now it appears it will only be a temporary rise. Considering this has been the main trend for the better part of two months, I don't see much change occurring right now. While things will likely remain somewhat above average temperature wise, I think most of the Southeast will escape the worst of the heat waves with rain interspersed throughout the rest of the month.