Gustav has been downgraded to a tropical depression, but that does not mean that it is not going to be a major player in our weather pattern. Gustav is slated to make a hard right turn and head into central Arkansas without ever passing over northeast Kansas. !That does not mean that there won’t be a local impact. We are watching a strong cold front slated to move through the region on Tuesday afternoon and evening that will, no doubt, interact with what was once Hurricane Gustav. There is a lot of variability in the weather models as to what the impact will be for us. The biggest question is how far north Gustav will go. The closer the tropical system comes to us, the more rain we can expect.The latest models have our 5-day rain total ranging from 0.50 inches to 1.75 inches for our region, with the lion’s share of the rain in the next 24-48 hours. The combination of the cold front and Gustav will keep the cooler air in place longer, leave us with clouds and keep rain in the forecast through Thursday. Our temperatures will likely struggle to stay in the low 70s if Gustav and the cold front stay on their current tracks. width=”450″ height=”360