Quick update - 10/19/2015

In the previous post I did on Friday (click here for that post), I discussed the changing weather expected for this week.  The original "wobbling and wondering low" had weakened and as of this afternoon was lifting into the northern Rockies.  It did not bring precipitation to the plains but did bring rain and snow to the Rockies.  However, as discussed on Friday, the flow has become southwesterly aloft and there are disturbances headed this way.

The afternoon satellite image shows several features.  (Click for a larger version)....

The decaying system referenced was located over western Wyoming and lifting north.  A more important feature was over central California (denoted by the red X).  It was dropping south but also strengthening.  Overall there was a deep fetch of the atmosphere headed northeast out of the tropics.   This will certainly be good news for much of the plains and even southern Rockies as precipitation chances will increase and some areas will receive substantial moisture!  But, I guess it could also be a bad thing if the wheat has not emerged or fall crops haven't been harvested as some areas may get excessive amounts.

The Weather Prediction Center has the following forecast of precipitation for the 7 day period ending next Monday evening...(keep in mind that this is an expected average, some will get more, some less).

You might also recall in the last post I discussed briefly about a tropical system that could move into the gulf and intensify.  Looking at the satellite image above, it is located just about in the same area as last Friday.  It hasn't moved much!  But indications are that it will start to influence Texas late in the week or early weekend (and depicted by large amounts of predicted rainfall).