Dangerous Heatwave Ahead

AHEAD IN THE WEATHER:

We had our second day in a row of lots of sunshine after a cloudy start to our week. Our high topped out at 94° which is well above the average for this time of year. Our average high is 88°. Under a dome of high pressure we’ll maintain well above normal temperatures from now through the weekend and even into the first half of next week. The first weekend for summer is looking mostly dry but very hot ahead.

Our weather will be under a sweltering heat dome of high pressure that will dig claws in for the next several days. A very stable and dry pattern will prevail with only very light breezes to mostly calm winds combining with high humidity and temperatures soon in the upper 90s. This combination will make for some dangerous heat for the first weekend of summer. Heat index readings will be high due to the lack of winds, higher humidity, and temperatures in the upper 90s. In fact, we’ll be flirting with 100° (actual) temperatures by next Tuesday and the heat index will be around 109°.

With this kind of heat, you’ll want to limit time outdoors or try to find shaded areas. Take plenty of breaks away from the sun. Wear light colored clothing and drink plenty of clear fluids, water being the best. Heat exhaustion can occur in only a few minutes with high heat indicies. Don’t forget about the pets as well!

We will stay under a sweltering hot dome of high pressure into the weekend. This will cause a stagnate pattern of mostly sunny skies, low to no breezes, and mostly rain free conditions for several days. We will steadily climb in high temperatures each afternoon and evening. A weak cold front will move near us on Sunday which will not affect temperatures, but will bring a slight chance of a few people getting a short lived pop up storm. Most will not get any rain for a cooldown. A more powerful front will move through the area around Wednesday of next week finally bringing us a cooldown and a healthy chance for some measurable rain. 

TONIGHT:

We can expect mostly clear skies and lows down to 72° with winds becoming calm.

STORMTRACKER 7 RADAR:

WEEKEND WEATHER:

Mostly sunny skies will be the trend for the next few days and Saturday we can expect mostly sunny with the heat cranking up to around 96° and a heat index of 100° to 102°. Winds will be mostly calm making it feel much hotter.

SATURDAY NIGHT:

Mostly clear skies and continued humid with lows around 73° and mostly calm winds.

SUNDAY:

Sunday will be our hottest day of the weekend with highs around 98° and a heat index as high as 105. A heat advisory will likely be needed. 

Winds will be very light to mostly calm throughout the day.

NEXT WEEK:

Next week will be a continuing of the high heat. In fact, Monday will bring another day of upper 90s as we top out around 98 degrees under partly to mostly sunny skies. Tuesday will be our most likely hottest day with highs topping out at 99 degrees and the heat index could be as high as 109! Finally, A more powerful cold front will drop through on early Wednesday afternoon with a good chance of rain/storms along with a good cooldown. We’ll return to the upper 80’s on Wednesday to around 90 on Thursday but the heat starts to crank back up towards Friday to around 92-94 in the afternoon.

MORE ACTIVE TROPICAL WEATHER:

We are watching a couple of other disturbances in the tropics. The strongest one is located east of Florida and has at least a 40% chance of developing into a tropical storm. Invest 92-L currently has 35 mph sustained winds and continues to move to the west northwest around 10 mph with pressure at 1015 MB. It will make landfall as a tropical depression tonight and bring limited rain and thunderstorms to the Georgia, south Carolina, and northeast Florida coast. We want see any rain from it in west Tennessee.

The heat will get more on the dangerous side for the weekend. Take plenty of breaks. Don’t forget about the pets. Drink plenty of clear liquids if you have outdoor plans over the weekend. Rain looks to be very limited over the next few days. Stay with the WBBJ 7 StormTeam for the latest on any changes in the track and path of the potential tropical systems and the extreme heat we will deal with the next few days.

Brian Davis
Storm Team 7 Meteorologist
Twitter – @Brian7wbbj
Facebook – Briandaviswbbj
Email – Badavis@wbbjtv.com