Centerville, Louisiana

The Flood Warning continues for
the Atchafalaya River at Morgan City.
* Until further notice... or until the warning is cancelled.
* At 6:00 PM Sunday the stage was 4.3 feet.
* Minor flooding is occurring and minor flooding is forecast.
* The flood stage is 4.0 feet.
* Forecast... the river is expected to fluctuate between 4.3 and 4.4 feet
through tomorrow.
* Impact... at 4.0 feet... the impact on river side Industry will lessen
as the river begins to recede.

... Heat wave and drought continues across southeast Texas and
southern Louisiana...

Since may 27... a strong upper level ridge of high pressure has
meandered over the Southern Plains and lower Mississippi Valley.
This has led to several weeks of very hot temperatures and very
little rain. The five official climate reporting sites have
experienced numerous record temperatures as well as extensive
periods of maximum temperatures above 95 degrees and days with no
rain.

Record high temperatures set include:

Site date old record/year new Record
Lake Charles 6/24 99/1937 102
              6/25 99/1914 102

Beaumont 6/24 97/1996 102
              6/25 100/1902 100 (tied)
              6/28 97/1996 100
              6/29 96/1969 100
              7/5 97/1997 97 (tied)

Lafayette 6/24 99/1930 102
              6/25 100/1930 100 (tied)
              6/28 98/1994 99
              6/29 100/1930 101

New Iberia 6/23 97/1953 100
              6/24 97/2005 102*
              6/25 97/2005 101
              6/26 98/1951 101
              6/27 97/1952 97 (tied)
              6/28 97/1950 98
              6/29 97/2005 100
              7/2 99/1980 99 (tied)

Alexandria 6/23 102/1932 102 (tied)
              6/24 101/1930 102
              6/28 101/1932 104*
              7/2 101/1980 102

* all time record high for the month of June

Record warm low temperatures set include:

Site date old record/year new Record
Lake Charles 7/4 79/1987 79 (tied)
              7/5 79/1987 82

Lafayette 7/4 78/1995 79
              7/5 78/1978 79

Alexandria 7/5 77/1932 80

Also of interest is that these locations also experienced long
streaks of consecutive days with afternoon highs of 95 degrees or
higher... including consecutive days with highs of 100 degrees or
higher:

Site number of consecutive days with highs
                       >=95 >=100
Lake Charles 13 2
Beaumont 8 2
Lafayette 19 3
New Iberia 17 4
Alexandria 19 6

For Lafayette and New Iberia... this was the longest streak of
consecutive days with temperatures at or above 95 degrees while it
was the second longest for Lake Charles. Average high temperatures
in June are between 90 and 92 degrees.

Likewise... the lack of measurable rainfall was also quite notable.
Since may 27... measurable rainfall was recorded on only four days at
Beaumont... three days at Lafayette... New Iberia and Alexandria... and
only two days at Lake Charles.

With evaporation rates of one third to one half of an inch per day and
very dry weather... much of the area has begun experiencing moderate
to severe drought conditions. During June... many locations saw 18 to
24 consecutive days without measurable rainfall. This has resulted
in rainfall totals well below normal from June 1 through July 5:

Site total (inches) departure from normal
Lake Charles 1.35 -5.63
Beaumont 1.94 -5.61
Lafayette 1.69 -5.47
New Iberia 0.74 -6.36
Alexandria 1.71 -3.89

Some good news is that there may some relief from these hot dry
conditions during the upcoming week. The stubborn upper ridge will
drift west which will allow northwesterly flow aloft to bring a few
disturbances across the area. This will provide rain chances of
about 40 to 50 percent each day... with afternoon temperatures around
90 degrees.