David Reese Weather Authority Meteorologist: The 90s stay away... For now

An upper-level low, the same one responsible for Wednesday's tornadoes in Texas, continues to spin across parts of Arkansas and northern Mississippi. It's bringing showers and thunderstorms to those in proximity of the low and keeping others a bit cooler than originally thought, us included, due to a bit more cloud cover.

TODAY:

Did you enjoy yesterday? Then you're going to enjoy today! Highs top out in the low to mid 80s, with a partly to mostly cloudy sky. The dew point, however, is on the climb, making it a bit more humid. A stray shower is possible to our north, but most of us will stay dry.

WEEKEND:

The weekend will be a bit cooler than originally forecast because of the upper-level low spinning across Tennessee and southern Kentucky. An isolated shower is possible for communities north of Columbus but most of us stay dry both days. There are better shower chances north of Birmingham and Atlanta, or north of I-20, as they'll be closer to the low.

NEXT WEEK:
Temperatures will climb as soon as the upper-level low, ULL, pulls away. We'll see the mercury touch the 90° mark in some spots across the Chattahoochee Valley, for the first time this year, either Monday or Tuesday, or both. The first half of the week will be mainly dry as a ridge overhead squashes our shower chances. The end of next week, Thursday/Friday, could see a cold front crawl through the Deep South, ushering in lower dew points, i.e. low humidity, and cooler temperatures. I mentioned this possibility earlier this week for a "cool" Memorial Day; that scenario is still possible, especially if we see this upper-level low, the green over Maine on the bottom image below, a bit more to the west which is what a few models hinted at Wednesday, top image below.

00Z GFS from 5-15-13

ULL over Virginas and sfc high over Great Lakes

00Z GFS from 5-17-13

ULL over Maine & sfc high over OH

BEACH FORECAST:
Here's a quick gander at the forecast along the Gulf Coast. Temperatures will be a bit cooler, generally in the low 80s, along the beach due to the sea breeze. Water temperatures are slowly, but steadily, climbing into the mid 70s.