Tracking a hot and humid weekend before storms return Sunday night
TONIGHT: Partly to mostly clear with lows in the mid-upper 70s.
TOMORROW: Mostly sunny, hot, and humid with an isolated thunderstorm possible. Highs in the low to mid-90s. Heat index between 96-99.
EXTENDED: The cold front bringing storms to southern Iowa and central Illinois this afternoon stays situated to our north overnight, keeping the better chances of storms north of us. That said, given the high heat and humidity, we could see a few isolated storms during the afternoon. Severe weather is not expected, and most areas stay dry with highs getting into the low to mid-90s. The heat index ranges between 97-99 on Saturday. We'll likely notice a few more clouds on Sunday, but temperatures reach the low to mid-90s once again with heat indices between 95-98. The cold front that's been stuck to our north will finally shift southeast on Sunday night, bringing a better chance of more widespread showers and thunderstorms after sunset Sunday into early Monday. There is plenty of disagreement on the timing of the front between forecast models, but I think some areas at least will have rain to start off the morning commute on Monday. A few of the storms Sunday evening may become strong to severe with a level 1 out of 5 risk for severe weather for the evening. If we see anything stronger materialize, the main threats would be isolated 1" hail and winds between 40-60 mph. Once this front clears the area, we'll notice a huge drop in temperatures and humidity. The first half of the week is looking amazing with highs in the upper 70s on Tuesday followed by low 80s on Wednesday. The humidity is also much lower with dew points falling into the 40s and 50s. We'll see another system move through on Thursday, bringing a chance of showers and storms and warmer temperatures back into the upper 80s. We need the rainfall as we're more than 2" below average for June.
