The weekly, updated drought monitor came out this morning -- as it normally does each Thursday morning at 7am.  Even with some scattered downpours (over 3" to 4" in certain locations from Snook to South College Station), there is little to no change in the drought conditions across the Brazos Valley.  In fact, I'd say we actually gained a little more landscape now officially under drought conditions.  While a small percentage of our counties remains just "Abnormally Dry" (the precursor to drought), many remain in a "Moderate" Drought while a strip from Lee to Grimes County is in a "Severe" Drought.

Find your Umbrella

No, this isn't a cruel joke.  I'm not going to pop up, yell "Surprise! You're on Candid Camera!" and then start pointing out where all the cameras are hidden.  There is an honest to goodness, decent chance for scattered rain heading into the weekend.  But the key words here are "scattered" and "chance."  Those that do see rain, it isn't promised that it will be a drought denting rain, either. 

We have a sharp, upper-level trough digging down the West Coast that is set to fling across the Desert Southwest and into the Plains States.  In response to this approaching system, winds are turning out of the southeast today and will turn a bit breezy by tomorrow.  That southeast wind is a warmer and more moist wind that will eventually act as the fuel to the fire in trying to see some of the much needed wet stuff here in our backyard for a second weekend in a row.

So You're Telling Me There's a Chance

Cloud cover will increase by late this afternoon and into the overnight hours (Thursday night into Friday morning).  For those wanting to get out and see the Geminids Meteor Shower -- which peaks tonight and tomorrow -- you probably won't have much hope seeing anything pass our sky.

By Friday afternoon, as a warm front approaches from the south and a small disturbance ripples in from the west, we'll open those scattered showers chances -- possibly even stretched to an isolated thunderstorm.

Saturday: Our next Pacific cold front starts to knock on the door by daybreak.  We'll open the best chance for rain from the early morning hours through noon.  It looks like most of the rain will follow the cold front to the coast by the afternoon hours.

Sunday: That same cold front lingers in the area until it gets another push from the north later in the day.  With that front sitting on top of us -- more of less -- we'll add in another decent chance of scattered rain and thunderstorms to the forecast.  

We'll be watching the latest computer models and tweaking a bit here and there -- and again, NOT everyone is GUARANTEED rain this upcoming weekend.  It wouldn't be a bad idea to plan for it, though, as we gear up for our Friday, Saturday, and Sunday activities.

Latest can always be found here at KBTX.com, on twitter, facebook and, of course, on Google+.