More Record Heat - FOX Carolina 21

More Record Heat

Good morning - and happy July 5th to you!  Hopefully you enjoyed the holiday - although a lot of people have been telling me the heat and humidity of Wednesday made it tough to be outside!  We'll keep the hot, humid weather trend going through the end of the week, so unfortunately we've just got to get used to these Dog Days of Summer!

The record at GSP is 98 degrees, and I'm forecasting a high of 99° - so I think 2012 will go in the record books again this afternoon.  In the Mountains, we'll fall a bit short of the record - my forecast high is 92 degrees, while the record is 96 degrees.

The humidity will be high - and it will make the hot temperatures feel even more uncomfortable.  I'd expect heat index values between 100 and 104° this afternoon, which puts us just below Heat Advisory criteria (that requires a heat index temp of at least 105° for 3 hours).  With highs staying around 99° on Friday and Saturday and humidity up a bit, I would expect some spots (especially southern Upstate areas) will be under Heat Advisories tomorrow.

Hit-or-miss thunderstorms will develop this afternoon, so keep an eye to the sky.  Like yesterday, the majority of towns will stay dry, but the storms will pack heavy downpours, frequent lightning, and even some hail or gusty winds - so keep an eye out for dark clouds!  Late-day t-storm chances will linger through the end of the week and weekend (Saturday and Sunday will bring slightly lower chances, though). 

It appears that early next week will be the most unsettled forecast days.  We'll see more cloud cover, higher rain/storm chances and temperatures closer to normal.  Stay tuned through the rest of the week/weekend for more updates on that.  Have a great day, and stay cool!