Hopefully you were able to take in some of the nice and less humid weather as of late. Today is where we begin to see the early stages of this excessively hot and humid airmass filter in.
Aside from an isolated shower or thunderstorm, today will be dry under partly cloudy skies. With winds more oriented out of the southeast, expect afternoon highs to peak in the upper 80s. Factoring in dew point temperatures in the upper 60s and low 70s puts our heat indices in the 90° to 94° range. Again, not terrible but it will be noticeable at times. An isolated thunderstorm or two also remains possible overnight, though expect overnight low temperatures to only fall into the low 70s as winds stay light out of the south and southeast.
Extreme Heat Watch:
No changes in heat alerts as the National Weather Service kept the entire area under an Extreme Heat Watch. The portion that includes Winnebago, Boone, McHenry, Ogle, and Lee County will be in place from 10AM Wednesday to 10 PM Thursday. Green, Rock, and Walworth County (southern Wisconsin) as well as Stephenson, Carroll, Jo-Daviess, and Whiteside County will be under the watch from 10 AM Wednesday to 7PM Thursday.
A ridge setting up in the upper levels will help bring hotter, more humid air for Wednesday and Thursday, allowing afternoon highs to peak in the low 90s. It's been quite some time since the Rockford Airport has seen a 90° day. You would have to go back 2.5 weeks to find our last one, so July 5th. Combined with dew points in the mid to upper 70s and you get heat indices in the 105° to 105° range.
As we've talked about previously, there are many ways to beat the dangerous heat. Steps include drinking plenty of fluids, taking breaks in an air-conditioned room or in the shade, and checking on loved ones and neighbors. If you HAVE to be outside, wear lightweight and loose-fitting clothing, and try to limit strenuous activities to the early morning or evening hours. And please look before you lock so you don’t leave your kids or animals outside or in a hot car.
This kind of heat will continue into Thursday as our next cold front approaches from the west. Forecast models bring said front in late in the afternoon, bringing with it the chance for isolated severe storms. For that, the Storm Prediction Center this morning placed the entire area under a level 1 Marginal Risk. Damaging winds seem to be the biggest concern followed by heavy downpours.
No comments:
Post a Comment