National Weather Service meteorologists are predicting a 30-40% chance of rain Friday and a hot, dry upcoming week.
“Friday is our best bet and our last bet for rain for at least the next week,” said NWS Meteorologist David Hennig. “I think (Thursday) will be our coolest day of the season until fall arrives. We’ll be issuing a heat advisory next week with temperatures expected to reach 105 degrees.”
Wednesday night’s storm, which brought golf ball-sized hail to Goldsmith, dropped 0.53 inches of rain at Schlemeyer Airport in Ector County, 0.81 inches at Midland International Air and Space Port and 0.02 inches at the Andrews County Airport, Hennig said.
“Some locations got a lot more than others,” Hennig said, noting one of his colleagues on the northeast side of Midland received 2 inches.
So far this year, Schlemeyer Airport has recorded a total of 0.93 inches of rain and Midland Airport has seen 1.29 inches, both about 3 inches below normal, Hennig said.
The eastern side of the Permian Basin is about an inch below normal.
Storm chasers recorded a wind gust of 76 miles an hour five miles west of Goldsmith and there were wind gusts of up to 63 miles an hour at the Midland airport, he said.
