Has this spring been hot enough for you? Enough 90+ or 100+ days yet? Well, guess what? Today is the first day of summer and the heat rolls on, if anything, building again today!
Chicagoland, most of southern Wisconsin, southern Michigan, western Ohio, the Ohio Valley, and into Missouri, will be in the upper 90s to the low 100s. At or above 100 will also be found from southern Kansas, into Oklahoma and Texas. Another area of at or above 100-degree temperatures will be found across parts of Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolinas. 90 or better is likely as far north as western Pennsylvania and western New York. This heat today will only build tomorrow, with the Ohio, Tennessee, and Mississippi Valleys along with the Southeast adding to those temps by a few degrees tomorrow, putting it into record or near all-time record territory. As reported yesterday, the heart of the heat shifts back west of the Mississippi River on Thursday and especially Friday.
While near-record to near all-time record heat in a few locations is still in play, the models have been backing off a little each day as we get closer. It backed off a few degrees on Monday and the same for today’s forecast. Thankful the longer ranger Euro, normally very accurate, now looking too high on temperatures for this event. Still, it’s a big heatwave, but not widespread all-time record heat like it was looking a few days ago.
Looking ahead into this weekend and towards the end of June, the serious heat stays closer to the Gulf Coast, Texas, and the southern Plains. It also builds out in the west coast for the first time in ages, especially in the Pacific NW. The southern Rockies and the Plains actually cool off, with temperatures well below the triple digits, and even blow normal in these areas by next week. For folks suffering from the heat, some areas will see some relief.
For other areas of the nation, especially the eastern Great Lakes and the Northeast, while it’s been hot on occasion, the widespread long-lasting heat waves have just not gotten into your neck of the woods. And they won’t either. A few days of above normal but not 90s to 100s. If anything, cooling off next week with lots of 70s and 80s common.
Today is the first day of summer. While this summer, especially across the Plains, Mississippi Valley, and the Southeast has been hot and bringing back memories of the absolutely brutal summer of 1988, it’s impossible to say if the heat will last all summer long like this. The best we can do is look short-range (up to 3 days), medium-range (3-7 days), and long-range (7-14 days) where we have at least some accuracy. The La Nina is in place and is strong, and there is a chance it could turn out to be a brutally hot July and/or August. We shall see. In the meantime, please keep it here for (almost) daily weather blogs.
