LOWER THE HUMIDITY, LOWER THE RAIN CHANCES

If you were outside on Saturday you probably felt a bit of a difference in the air. Now, it was still very warm but the air didn't feel like it was encompassing your body constantly. That's because drier air moved in and lowered the dew points (humidity):

Dew points all week long were in the 60s and 70s. Throughout the day Saturday the humidity was dropping and well feel it even more so on Sunday.

The dry air actually heats up faster and easier than more humid air... so it'll still be quite warm with temperatures running around 10 degrees above normal:

This all has to do with the current pattern in the upper levels of the atmosphere.

The big orangey-red blob is a ridge, or an area high pressure. That is keeping the warm air in place. There is then the blue over the northeastern part of the county, which is a trough, or area of low pressure. That is promoting northwest flow in the upper levels, leading to the dry air.

So while it may feel more bearable to stand outside, this also means rain chances are very low. Unfortunately they've been low for way too long.

Above is a look at the last seven days of precipitation... some areas have had none. Most have had under a half an inch. Moderate drought conditions persist in some of these regions and it's growing worse by the day.

The dew point does give us an idea of how it feels outside, but it also tells us about how much moisture is in the atmosphere. As dew points drop below 50° the air becomes pretty dry... to the point that little to no rain will occur.

The next five days do not look promising for those areas....

Little to no rain expected through Wednesday or Thursday. The pattern likely stays fairly dry through the end of next week. There will hopefully be some improvement toward the end of the month:

The Climate Prediction Center shows some positivity... hopefully enough to help out the drought areas.

RK