Slow climb in heat and humidity with isolated rain chances this week

 We have remained comfortable with high temperatures only near 80 degrees as of late, but we will see a gradual change through the week ahead. Day after day may feel similar to the day before, but in aggregate you will notice a change in heat and humidity by the middle to end of the week.

An upper level ridge to the West has been to thank for the comfortable weather locally over the last several days. This ridge will begin to break down through the week ahead, which will feed a warmer air mass our direction through the end of the week. As a result, we will see a slow but steady climb in temperatures and humidity throughout the week.

Dew points have remained below 60° much of the last several days, keeping things very comfortable especially for this time of year. But we will see dew point temperature reach back above 60° and even near 70° at times toward the end of the week. This will be accompanied by a rise in temperatures, with afternoon highs reaching the upper 80s and near 90° starting Wednesday.

The rise in humidity also means a small rise in rain chances. None of the days this week will be a washout--far from it, in fact. Isolated chances for showers and a stray thunderstorm will begin Tuesday, but most days this week will feature only about 20% coverage of rain each day. Later in the week and next weekend may begin to bring slightly higher chances, but even that will only be scattered at best.

Here is an example of what the isolated showers and storms may look like each afternoon through much of the week. Those who see some of the showers and storms may get a quick downpour and couple rumbles of thunder at most, but a large majority of the area will be dry at any given time. Total rainfall will likely not exceed 0.25" for most through at least Friday.