It’s the ninth consecutive dry day in Nashville since the remnants of Katrina pulled away last Tuesday afternoon. The sunny and less humid conditions are nice, but many of us are on the lookout for rain. It looks like we’ll have to keep waiting: a slow-moving ridge of high pressure in the middle and upper atmosphere will mean warm and dry weather for the forseeable future. How can we say this with certainty? Step inside…

This is the GFS computer model forecast for Friday afternoon. The map shows the 500 millibar level which is about 18,000 feet up in the atmosphere. You can see the ridge of high pressure across the Central Plains. Underneath the ridge (including here in the mid-state) it will be mostly sunny and warm on Friday afternoon.

By Monday afternoon the ridge is centered over East Tennessee. That means that our streak of quiet and dry weather will continue through early next week, at least. Until the ridge of high pressure aloft breaks down or moves eastward, don’t expect any big changes in the forecast.

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