Dewpoints The Difference

Thanks this morning to my friend David Wills for this beautiful picture. David takes some great weather shots. And now he needs to take a camera with him while he's diving.
The mantra this morning is: "Air temps not that different. But dewpoint temps will soar, and you'll really feel the difference."
Yesterday's high was 88 and by Sunday we could hit 93. So over the next three days we're only talking about a 5 degree difference. But the dewpoints will jump almost 20 degrees during the same time frame.

• Thursday @ 6pm dewpoint 46 degrees - NICE!
• Today @ 6pm dewpoint 56 degrees - Still comfortable.
• Saturday @ 6pm dewpoint 65 degrees - Steamy.
• Sunday @ 6 pm dewpoint 67 degrees - Borderline oppressive.

The old adage it's not the heat, it's the humidity is surely true in this range. But I question people's experience when I hear folks saying, "I'd take 110 in Texas over 95 here any day." Sure a steamy 95 in Chattanooga is a bear, but anyone who's been in a dry 110+ "dry" heat, knows how literally breath-taking that is.

Today: Mostly sunny and hot. (But low humidity for one last day.) North winds 5 to 10 mph. Highs around 90.

Tonight:Fair skies and sticky with lows around 65.

Saturday: Mostly sunny and steamy with only a 20% chance for an isolated afternoon storm. Highs around 92.

Sunday:Partly cloudy and steamy with only a 20% chance for an isolated afternoon storm. Highs around 93.

Steamy with a slight chance for and afternoon storm Monday and Tuesday with highs both days near 90.

Big question for the weekend: Will something tropical pop up near the Yucatan peninsula and move up into the Gulf? Most of the models develop a low down there. But forecast strength and movement is all over the place. This may not turn out to be much, but if I had vacation plans for the beaches of Florida I'd take a look at this over the weekend to find out if this system forms.

Have a great weekend and enjoy Riverbend 2006!