Chances of rain, storms in Fourth of July forecast for Albany area

ALBANY — Summer in Southwest Georgia during normal times carries the risk of rain and thunderstorms, and it’s no respecter of holidays — even patriotic ones like Independence Day.

It’s going to be hot, humidand there’s a likelihood that a thunderstorm will break out every day this week. In other words, typical Southwest Georgia sultry summer days.

The National Weather Service forecast for Monday is a high near 92 with a 30 percent chance of rain, but the risk of wet weather goes up Tuesday. The Fourth of July forecast calls for a 40 percent chance of the sky making its own pyrotechnics show with showers and thunderstorms, which will be most likely to develop after 2 p.m.

Forecasters say a trough — an area of low pressure — will be around for the first two days of the week, but a disturbance in the mid to upper part of the atmosphere also will move through the region Tuesday, creating upward motion in the atmosphere ahead of the disturbance that can facilitate thunderstorm development.

And that could lead to soggy firecrackers and doused sparklers for those celebrating the nation’s 241st birthday.

That disturbance “combined with the sea breeze will lead to increased rain chances,” the forecast says.

It’s also going to be hot and muggy with a 5 mph breeze unlikely to provide a lot of relief from a high in the mid-90s.

“Less cloud cover will allow temperatures to rise to the low to mid 90s each day (Monday and Tuesday),” the forecast says. “Combined with dewpoints in the mid 70s, heat indices will near 100 degrees.”

Later in the evening Tuesday, the chance of wet weather drops to about 30 percent.

The rest of the week looks like it will follow a usual summer pattern, with daytime highs in the low 90s and overnight lows in the mid 70s.

A stacked low over the middle Mississippi valley will move east through the week, bring a front through by the weekend, forecasters say. Chances of precipitation will be typical of summer sea breeze convection and will range from 30-50 percent each day.

The forecast posted Sunday said chances of rain are 40 percent every day except Thursday, which is at 50 percent. The chance of rain and storms drops into the 20-30 percent range most evenings this week.

Meanwhile, recent rains have helped cut into the Albany area’s rain deficit for the year. As of Sunday, the weather gauge at the Albany airport had registered 26.24 inches this year, 3.51 inches below average.