Pinched Between Two Ridges
Friday, August 7, 2026 · 6:07 AM
Lyrics
Day after day! It never changes! Another copy and paste summer day! Trapped in the mid-state! High clouds tonight but I see every star! Cookeville flooded while we choke where we are! West of I-65, the heat index climbs! Complacency sets in a thousand times! Pinched between two ridges, general troughiness takes hold! We burn in the low nineties, never turning cold! ONE HUNDRED! ONE HUNDRED! ONE HUNDRED! PINCHED BETWEEN TWO RIDGES! THERE IS NO ESCAPE FROM THIS HEAT! I AM BEGGING TO WIN THE RAIN LOTTERY! TO WASH ME OFF THIS STREET! THIRTY TO FORTY PERCENT EAST OF I-SIXTY-FIVE! JUST GIVE ME A DOWNPOUR TO FEEL ALIVE! NO HEAT HEADLINES CAN SAVE US NOW! THE COMPLACENCY IS BROKEN! LOOK TO THE SKY! LOOK TO THE SKY! FORTY MPH! FORTY MPH! FORTY MPH! Monday and Tuesday will be cranking again! The Bermuda Ridge takes control in the end! Copy and paste! Copy and paste! STILL PINCHED BETWEEN TWO RIDGES!
The forecast discussion
KEY MESSAGES
Updated at 604 AM CDT Fri Aug 7 2026
- Scattered afternoon/early evening showers and storms each day.
Low coverage (10 to 20 percent) west of I-65 with medium coverage (30 to 40 percent) east of I-65.
- No severe weather is expected, but any storm has the potential to produce gusty winds around 40 mph and heavy downpours causing local flash flooding.
- Heat Index values in the upper 90 to low 100s each afternoon, potentially a touch warmer Monday and Tuesday.
SHORT TERM
(Tonight through Sunday Night) Issued at 1046 PM CDT Thu Aug 6 2026
After some scattered showers and storms this afternoon into the early evening, the radar has been clear for a couple of hours now.
We did end up seeing some minor flooding in Cookeville, but on the whole, storms behaved today.
Look for some high clouds tonight, but a lot of stars.
I could see some patchy fog developing before sunrise Friday, but nothing widespread.
That should lead us into yet another copy and paste summer day on Friday.
Afternoon highs in the low 90s west of the Plateau and mid 80s on the Plateau with a low to medium chance for diurnal showers and storms once again.
If you do win the lottery tomorrow and catch one of these storms, locally heavy rainfall and brief gusty winds (around 40 mph) will be the main concern.
For the upcoming weekend, it's much of the same.
We remain pinched in between two upper level ridges and that means general troughiness across the mid-state.
This will keep us in this low to medium afternoon/early evening storm chance pattern with Heat Index values topping out in the low 100s west of the Plateau each day.
Without any real organization to any storms, complacency can set in. If you have outdoor plans this weekend, please keep an eye to the sky.
While the severe wind threat is very low, any storm could produce 40 to 50 mph wind and locally heavy rainfall.
LONG TERM
(Monday through next Friday) Issued at 1046 PM CDT Thu Aug 6 2026
To start next week, it does look like we might see more influence from the Bermuda Ridge.
This means yes, we could see a few storms, but temps and heat indexes will probably be the warmest of this forecast package Monday and Tuesday.
Right now, I don't anticipate any heat headlines, but the heat and humidity should be cranking.
For the time being, models are in pretty good agreement in the extended part of the forecast.
Temperatures should moderate back towards 90 (maybe a touch cooler) and rain chances become a little more widespread for the second half of next week as a longwave trough takes over the eastern half of the country.
So, if your numbers don't get drawn for rain through Tuesday, we all might win the rain lottery for the latter half of next week.