Today is the last day of meteorological summer, and it’s been a long, boring three months. Save for a couple of tropical storms and a derecho or two, there weren’t many weather events that commanded attention. The big story has been the heat and humidity, and that’s what will continue through the first half of September.
Hot temperatures and choking humidity levels will make for a dangerous couple of days across a good portion of the United States this weekend as summer reminds us it’s far from over. Widespread highs in the upper 90s and heat indices up to 110°F are likely from the Plains to the coast.
Most of western and central Europe is on track to experience a dangerous heat wave over the next week, allowing temperatures to soar up to 30 degrees Fahrenheit above average for several days beginning on Wednesday. This level of heat is extremely dangerous in this part of the world due to the lack of air conditioning in many homes across the region.
A slow motion disaster will continue playing out in the western United States this weekend as the same weather pattern that kept the west dangerously hot and dry this past winter is back to roast it over an open fire beginning this weekend. Some locations will see highs in the 100s through the middle of next week.
The southeast is melting under the influence of an unusually brutal early-season heat wave, with temperatures soaring into the upper 90s and low 100s for four days now. Temperatures will moderate somewhat for a day or two this weekend, but the heat is going to crank back up for most of next week.
Once upon a time, it used to get uncomfortably hot in June. Remember those days? It was just a few years ago, but after last year’s cakewalk they called “summer”, this year’s heat is going to seem downright brutal and unforgiving. A heat wave is cranking up in the southeast right now, and it’s going to get ugly.
Hey, remember when we all complained that it was freezing just a couple of months ago? Think some of those cool, cool thoughts while we roast in the heat and humidity next week. Temperatures could climb into the 90s as far north as New Jersey, with muggy 80s stretching into New England.
Welcome to May! We are now two-thirds of the way through spring, and right on schedule, the atmosphere has a mini heat wave in the forecast for most of us east of the Rockies. On top of that, models are trying to spin up some sort of a tropical cyclone-ish thing off the East Coast next week.
Out of the comfort and into the fire went the central United States this week as the latest NotReallyAPolarVortex left in a hurry. Temperatures themselves are hot enough — topping 105°F in places — but as the old phrase goes, it's not the heat that gets you, it's the humidity. On days like today, the heat index is crucial.
The intensely hot temperatures baking parts of the Los Angeles area this week are coming to a close, but not before managing to break a few more records by the end of the day today. Areas around downtown L.A. could exceed 100°F this afternoon.
