SHOWERS IN SOME WESTERN & SOUTHWESTERN AREAS OVERNIGHT...WARM & HUMID ON THURSDAY WITH A FEW POP-UP STORMS...

MAJOR COOL FRONT WILL BRING A FEW MORE SHOWERS OR STORMS EARLY FRIDAY..THEN CLEARING, COOLER & LESS HUMID FOR FRIDAY & SATURDAY!

1:30 AM THURSDAY UPDATE:

While a few showers fell in the Tyler area Wednesday afternoon, most of the showers and storms were up north in the northern counties of East Texas. Parts of Rains and Hopkins counties had over an inch of rain with temperatures in the upper 70s for much of the afternoon. Late in the afternoon a few showers and storms moved through Wood, Franklin, Titus, Morris and Cass counties, giving some areas over half an inch of much needed rain. Those showers had mostly dissipated by around 9 PM. However, a separate area of very heavy storms moved southward from northern North Texas through the Dallas - Ft. Worth and all the way down to Waco and Fairfield during the evening. Those storms were particulary strong with very frequent lightning, causing power outages, very heavy rain causing some brief street flooding, brief strong winds of greater than 55 mph in some areas, doing damage, especially in Ellis county to the south of Dallas, and some scattered hail up to about quarter size. These storms were moving southward along the Interstate 45 corridor during these late night hours. They will miss the Tyler- Longview area, however the eastern fringe of the storm complex will continue to bring some light to moderate rain to parts of southwestern Van Zandt, western Henderson and western Anderson counties during the next 1 to 2 hours. A few sprinkles could occur in the Tyler - Longview area, but probably nothing more than that.

Thursday looks partly cloudy, warm and humid with a few addtional scattered showers and thunderstorms popping up, but overall coverage will probably be 30% or less. Depending on the amount of sunshine we see, highs will probably be in the 90-95 degree range with the warmer readings likelyin eastern areas that where more sunshine is likely.

A major change is coming very late Thursday night and Friday morning as a strong cold front pushes southward into our area. A large area of showers and storms will approach from the NW Thursday night and move through the Tyler-Longview area during the morning hours on Friday. The storms may be weakening as they move through, but they still could give some areas a quick 0.33"-1.0" of rain along with frequent lightning and brief gusty winds. The cold front will push off to our south Friday afternoon, possibly triggering some storms in our southern counties ( Crockett, Groveton, Lufkin, Nacogdoches, Center and Hemphill areas), but drier air will be moving into the Tyler-Longview area in plenty of time for Friday Night Football games. Temperatures will drop into the 70s during the games with lows early Saturday morning way down into the lower 60s.

The Holiday Weekend then looks beautiful with sunny skies, low humidity and seasonable temperatures. HIghs should only be in the upper 80s to near 90 on Saturday. Lows Sunday morning will be close to 60. Highs Sunday afternoon will be near 90 with continued low humidity. Southeasterly winds will make Labor Day warmer and more humid with highs in the low to mid 90s, but skies should still be mostly sunny.

FORECAST:

OVERNIGHT: Mostly cloudy with showers in some western and southwestern areas up until around 2 AM - 3 AM....However we expect little or no measureable rain in most of the immediate Tyler-Longview area. Low temperatures: 74-77....Winds mostly SSE 5-10 mph...

DURING THE DAY THURSDAY: Variable cloudiness, including some sunshine....very warm and humid. A few scattered showers and storms will pop up during the midday and afternoon hours....Overall rain chances (30%). High temperature near 93....Winds SSE 5-10 mph, but variable and gusty near a few midday and afternoon thundersttorms...

THURSDAY NIGHT: Partly to mostly cloudy, warm and humid....Low 74.

FRIDAY MORNING: Showers and a few thunderstorms likely (70%)....Winds Variable 10-15 mph, but gusty near thunderstorms.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON: Showers and storms moving off to the south....clearing skies towards evening...High temperature near 88....Winds becoming NNE 15 mph.

FRIDAY NIGHT: Mostly clear and cooler....Great weather for Friday Night Football! Temperatures wll drop into the 70s during the games and then down to near 60 by daybreak on Saturday. Winds N 6-12 mph.

SATURDAY: Sunny and very nice with low humidity.....High 89...Winds NNE 10 mph.

SUNDAY: Continued sunny and very nice.....Low 61, High 91...Winds E 10 mph.

LABOR DAY:: Sunshine, then increasing clouds, warmer and more humid....A few showers may pop up in southern areas late in the afternoon (20%).....Low 66, High 94...Winds SE 10-15 mph.

TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY: A mixture of clouds and sunshine, very warm and humid....Slight chance of scattered afternoon thunderstorms, mainly in southern areas...(rain chances: 30% on Tuesday and 20% on Wednesday).....Lows: 71-74, Highs: 91-94....Winds SSE 10-15 mph.

Scott Chesner :