First heat wave of the summer

Nicole Madden,

AM Weather Headlines:

  • Dangerous Heat
  • Feels Like 105+
  • No Relief Overnight
  • Storms Return Midweek
  • Humidity Stays High
  • Watching the Tropics

Discussion:
We’re locked into a multi day heat wave across the Carolinas as a strong upper level ridge remains parked over the region. This ridge is trapping hot air near the surface, limiting cloud cover and essentially shutting down any storm chances for now. Highs today and Tuesday will soar into the mid to upper 90s across much of the Piedmont and Foothills, with heat index values climbing to 103 – 108. This is especially concerning because overnight lows are only dipping into the mid to upper 70s. The lack of overnight relief makes this stretch more dangerous, especially for those without AC or adequate cooling. A heat advisory is in effect for Stanly, Richmond and Anson counties until 10am Tuesday, with an Extreme Heat Watch covering Tuesday afternoon. We’ll likely see more advisories and/or warnings issued for the rest of the region at some point today.

By Wednesday, the ridge starts to weaken slightly, allowing for scattered afternoon storms to return, mainly in the foothills and mountains at first. This will help knock a few degrees off the daytime highs, but humidity stays high, so it won’t exactly feel β€œcool.” Thursday into the weekend looks more typical for late June: highs in the upper 80s to low 90s with isolated to scattered pop-up storms each afternoon.
Tropics Update:
In the tropics, we’re also keeping a close eye on Invest 90L, a developing area of low pressure about 500 miles east of Bermuda. It’s showing signs of organizing and could briefly become a tropical depression or storm as early as today. The National Hurricane Center gives it a 70% chance of formation in the next 48 hours. Regardless of development, it will stay over the open Atlantic and move northeast away from the U.S.