Heat advisory this weekend, practice heat caution outdoors

A heat advisory goes into effect tomorrow afternoon and lasts through Sunday evening. The ABC 17 Stormtrack Weather team opted to not issue a Weather Alert Day due to heat index values remaining below 105º.

We typically begin having internal Weather Alert Day discussions if heat index values are expected to be at least 100 degrees in a given forecast period. Since we pretty much in the heart of the summer season, and have already seen some fairly hot weather so far, we decided it best to avoid issuing a W.A.D. for heat this time around. On a typical late-July afternoon, heat index values near 100 aren't too uncommon.

If this type of heat were occurring in May or early June... or in Late August or early September, it might be a different story!

Another reason we passed on the W.A.D. is the short duration of this heat threat. Dangerous heat index values will only last for a few hours into the afternoon tomorrow and Sunday.

Now, this isn't a free pass. If you're not practicing responsible heat safety, you can still run into issues. It's the middle of summer... drink water, lather up the sunscreen and avoid staying out in the sun too long.

We felt that we didn't need to use a Weather Alert Day for that.

The purpose of the Weather Alert Day is a tool keep mid-Missourians and early heads up to dangerous weather conditions. We felt it more a redundancy than something of use for our audience with the expected heat this weekend.

GOOD NEWS: It doesn't last! Next week is looking very comfortable as strong, northwesterly flow in the upper parts of the atmosphere takes over. This will lead to cooler than normal weather and comfortable overnight lows! Even some lower humidity!

Would be a nice start to August, for sure!

-Luke