Weather thru July 21

Review of the Past Week:

Another very humid, and warm week has passed. It was a drier week that I expected, although there were some heavy thunderstorms out there, as I drove through one on Tuesday. Until Thursday I would grade the forecast an A-, but Thursday was way off on the rain, and the weekend looks off as Fri night was much wetter than expected. Overall grade: B+ because temps were pretty good.

Overview:

We have a heat wave coming and no last week I did not foresee it coming. A few things to not about this:

1.       This will be home grown heat. Not heat coming from the west. The ridge will build on top of us and build the heat.

2.       Not a record breaking heat wave, although the media will try to play it up. To set a record we will need to reach 100 degrees. Not going to that this week … not close.

3.       A heat wave is defined as 3 days of hitting 90 or above. But hitting 90 in July when your average high for the middle of July is 86 is not really a big deal. I call it seasonal. 

4.       It will humid, mostly sunny and come to an end this coming weekend. Enjoy this summer week.     

Specifics:

Sunday: Very warm and humid, mostly sunny. Temperatures will be near 87 for a high and 70 for overnight low.

Monday – Thursday: Pretty straight forward. Mostly sunny, with very humid conditions as daytime temps will top out around 91 degrees Mon – Tue, 93 degrees Wed-Thursday, and nighttime temps will bottom out near 70 every morning.  There is a slight chance of a storm each afternoon, but it is unlikely.

Friday: The last day of the heat with mostly sunny skies, but clouds building throughout the day. A front will sag south out of Canada and bring some storms with it very late or overnight Friday. A hot west wind will increase during the day. This could be the hottest day with afternoon temps near 95 degrees.  Nighttime temperatures will continue to be around 70.  

Saturday – Sunday: The front will pass later on Sat, but more clouds will mean lower temps and a much greater chance of afternoon/evening storms. Skies will be mostly sunny on Sunday with much lower humidity. Highs will only be in the mid 80s Sat and around 80 on Sun.  

Hint thru July 28: Heat ridge will shift to our SW over the southern Rockies and Southern plains. This heat will try to expand in our direction as cool air will try to cut it off as it comes our way. I fully expect to see a cooler week that will likely be wetter too.