Perfect Friday weather claim might not be so perfect in SW La.

A “perfect” forecast is not necessarily an accurate forecast. An email to the American Press claiming Friday, July 19, would be the most “perfect evening of the year” was attention-getting. With all the bad news lately, it represented something good to report on for a change, and at the very least, the basis for wishful thinking.

Using publicly available weather data from an online site that “offers climate reports with the typical weather by month, day or even hour for 134,449 locations worldwide,” a company identified the most perfect evening of summer in each state for an outdoor meal.

Perhaps July 19 will be ideal in other parts of the state with temperature expected to hover around 83 degrees with just a 27 percent chance of rain, as described in the email — but not in this area, not according to Lake Charles National Weather Service meteorologist-in-charge Roger Erickson.

“With a front on the way, there’s a high chance of rain,” Erickson said. “We’re predicting 90 percent the afternoon of July 19 and 60 percent later in the day.”

At least the temperatures won’t be extreme. The Friday high is expected to be  88 degrees, with the temperatures dropping to 71 degrees that night.

If Erickson had to pick the perfect evening for enjoying a meal outdoors, he would pick a nice fall evening behind a cold front that brings lower humidity.

Every day without a tropical disturbance in the Gulf is a reason to be grateful. Maybe July 19 is the perfect day to celebrate it.