The complex of wind-producing storms, or derecho, that passed to our north on Thursday helped keep temperatures cooler than forecast. However, today we look to push the mercury to triple digits. 

A large dome of high pressure, or ridge, has formed in the middle part of the country. This means all the hot air will stream north into our region, courtesy of southwesterly winds.

With the ridge blocking storms and clouds, the sun will help drive the temperature to triple-digits.

With heat indices expected to climb above 105, a Heat Advisory is in place until this evening.

Not only are we expecting high temperatures, but dew points will also climb. That means a temperature of 100 degrees will feel close to 105 or even 110 degrees, making prolonged exposure dangerous.

The position of the ridge is important. For the end of the workweek, it looks as though our region will reside on the northern edge of this ridge, resulting in isolated storm chances.

These storms, nicknamed “ridge-riding” storms, develop along the northern periphery. The storms can be enhanced by daytime heating.

If more storms are triggered, added clouds could keep temperatures down a few degrees. Regardless, this will be the hottest weather we’ve seen so far this season.

The ridge looks to break down for the weekend as the extreme heat retreats south. A cold front will also push through the area late in the day on Saturday, bringing another round of storms.

More seasonable weather arrives at the end of the weekend with highs in the upper 80s to near 90 degrees.

We’ve seen some warm weather this month, already getting 11 days of 90 degrees or warmer. Our warmest day on record occurred on July 14, 1954, when the mercury reached a high of 114 degrees.

As recently as July 22, 2017, the temperature topped out at 108 degrees.

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