Temperatures affected by the Urban Heat Island effect

 As low to mid 90-degree temperatures remain possible the rest of the week some areas may experience higher temperature due to outside factors. In urban and populated areas, the "Urban Heat Island" effect is often very common where these areas experience warmers temperatures than that of areas that are more rural.

Currently widespread low 90-degree temperatures dominate most of the region however as previously mentioned more urban areas will experience higher temperatures. Currently in Rockford the Urban Heat Island can be seen as higher temperatures and higher heat index values are over the city. 

To explain the Urban Heat Island, it is a combination of less shade, heating from cars and buildings, as well as dark objects like rooftops and asphalt being able to retain more heat. These factors all stacked in a concentrated area help temperatures in the area to be retained and increase in an already hot stretch to continue.

As the warm stretch continues hot temperatures combined with mid to upper 60-degree dewpoints will continue to bring mid 90-degree heat indices to the region. For urban areas especially temperatures will be locally even higher so continuing to practice heat safety in all regions will be crucial.