Tropical Storm Barry is heading toward the Louisiana coast. Eventually Barry may do a few things to Michigan’s weather.
First off, Tropical Storm Barry will likely become a hurricane before it makes landfall Saturday morning.
Then Barry will weaken to under tropical storm status. The remnant rains of Barry are projected to move north into the Ohio Valley and just south of Michigan by Wednesday or Thursday of next week.
The first effect of Barry on Michigan’s weather will be a warming effect early next week. Usually as tropical systems move north, they bring a “donut shaped” area of warmth with them. Monday and Tuesday should have temperatures around 90 degrees or a little warmer in the southern half of Lower Michigan. The warming comes from the flow out of the tropical system. The flow out of the system pushes air downward in the atmosphere, and that’s a warming process.
Next, Barry could help bring some rainfall to Michigan. Actually by next week we will need some rain, as it has been drying out over much of Michigan.
The rain from Barry could do one of two things. First, the showers could move into southern Michigan Wednesday or Thursday. Another strong possibility is the moisture from Barry may feed into the moisture starved system northwest of Michigan. That would help the northwest system bring some rain to Michigan.
A third effect is a sure bet. The humidity will likely soar as the remnants of Barry approach the Great Lakes. A great way to see the tropical moisture in the air in the form of humidity is to look at the dew point temperature.
You can see that dew point temperatures are forecast to surge into the mid-70s by late Wednesday. Want to know what that feels like? That dew point temperature is very typical of New Orleans or anywhere in Florida during the summer. It’s humid for us here in Michigan.
The final effect on Michigan could be to slow down the mini heat wave coming.
There is some hot weather coming late next week and next weekend. In the current scenario with Barry, Barry could combine with the storm system coming from the northwest and pull down a day or two of slightly cooler air from Canada.
The heat wave will likely still occur. The remnants of Barry could just delay it a day or two late next week.
So keep an eye on the remnants of Barry with me. The remnants of tropical systems over the Great Lakes always make some interesting weather.