After a very pleasant couple of summer days with cooler temperatures and low humidity, our weather pattern shifts back to uncomfortably hot and humid conditions to finish out the month.
Temperatures today will quickly warm to the upper 80s in our rural communities. Some of our larger towns could very well reach 90°. Dew points, however, will lag behind yet today. It will certainly be more humid today than the last couple of days, but the highest dew points won’t arrive until Thursday.
Thursday is likely to be the warmest day of the week with daytime highs running in the low to mid 90s. Dew points will increase to the low 70s, making the heat index in the upper 90s to 100° during peak heating in the late afternoon.
TURNING STORMY ON FRIDAY
High pressure overhead will keep dry and mostly sunny conditions in place today and Thursday. That will change on Friday as a cold front drops slowly south through eastern Ohio. With a very moist and warm air mass firmly in place, we can expect some scattered thunderstorms to break out – most likely in the afternoon.
While the atmosphere will be plenty unstable Friday afternoon, appreciable upper-level shear is lacking. Still, there can be an isolated gusty storm. Widespread severe thunderstorms appear unlikely at this time. The NWS Storm Prediction Center has our area included in a Level 1 – Marginal Risk. This being the Day 3 Outlook will likely undergo changes as we get closer to Friday.
What we do have an abundance of is moisture, as noted by the elevated dew points. Any storm could tap into this moisture and produce tropical downpours.
Temperatures and heat index values will depend on the amount of cloud cover and showers/storms in any one location. Those dew points, however, will remain in the mid-70s. Shower/storm chances should decrease Friday night.
WEEKEND OUTLOOK
That frontal boundary will hang around nearby as we head into the weekend. Saturday doesn’t look like a washout, but there will be scattered showers/thunderstorms wandering around the region. The greatest coverage will likely occur in the afternoon and evening.
Sunday looks slightly better. Precipitation chances will be highest during the morning until that boundary gets pushed far enough south of the area. We could see improvement during the afternoon with dry weather becoming likely for Sunday night and Monday.
LONGER TERM
Generally, we can expect hot and humid conditions to continue into next week. With the heat and humidity will come occasional chances for thunderstorms. Places that do see a storm will get a short reprieve from the head,t but not so much the humidity. Cooler temperatures with much lower dew points may arrive to start August.
