Posted: Mon, 29 Aug 2011 12:00 AM - 14,674 Readers

By: Claudia Grisales

It’s the forecast you’ve dreaded all summer long: another triple-digit day is on tap today.

But here’s the good news: there’s a decent shot for rain at the end of this long, hot tunnel that we’ll call the Austin summer of 2011.

The National Weather Service is forecasting a break in our weather pattern later this week, with an outlook that the stubborn high pressure system that’s turned Austin into a triple-digit oven in recent summer weeks will finally move away. There’s a 40 percent chance for rain moving into the area Thursday.

“We’re extremely hopeful about this,” said service meteorologist Chris Morris. “We see this ridge (of high pressure) breaking down and gulf moisture moving in. It’s a welcome sight to see.”

That’s also put our rain chances at 20 to 30 percent through the Labor Day holiday weekend, Morris said. And from there, it looks like we’ll get back into temperatures that are below 100 degrees, he said.

If we’re lucky, Tuesday or Wednesday could mark the last triple-digit days of the year, Morris said, with models now showing the high pressure system won’t come back this year following Labor Day. But he’s cautious to rule out that possibility for sure.

“We should be under the triple-digit mark, it doesn’t look like the ridge will build back up —- fingers crossed,” he said. “But we can’t totally rule out another 100-degree day.”

Yesterday’s high of 112 degrees tied the all-time highest temperature ever recorded at Camp Mabry. At Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, a high of 109 was the third warmest day ever and broke the record for the month of August.

Today’s high could reach 108, marking the 74th triple-digit day of the year, well ahead of the previous record 69 triple-digit days set in 1925.

Also, a heat advisory for South Central Texas has been extended through 9 p.m. Monday, Morris said.

The service is advising residents to take precautions to prolonged heat exposure, and utilities are asking customers to conserve power if possible to avoid outages, especially during peak demand especially in the late afternoon hours.

In addition, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said the ozone forecast for Monday for Austin, among other Texas cities, is at the orange level, which means that active children and adults, as well as those with lung disease or asthma, should decrease lengthy or heavy activity outside.

Statesman reporter Ben Wear chronicled the 1925 record when we neared the record in 2009, you can read that story here.