The calendar says it's the middle of May, but it will feel a lot more like the middle of summer for the next several afternoons. High temperatures for the rest of this week will be more typical for late June or July in North Carolina than the middle of May.
Much of the state will see highs in the upper 80s to low 90s from today through Friday. The exceptions will be the mountains and beaches where highs will be in the upper 70s to low 80s.
The hot afternoon weather does cause some concern for the air quality in parts of the state. The heat will make the air become stagnant around larger cities trapping in air pollution. A code orange air quality day has been declared for Tuesday in Charlotte. That means the level of ozone pollution could be unhealthy for anyone with respiratory problems. Other cities in the state including Raleigh, Greensboro, and Fayetteville have a code yellow air quality forecast for Tuesday which is not considered unhealthy.
Dry weather appears likely through this week. There's just a slight chance for a few isolated afternoon storms by the weekend.