BLOG: Heating Up
It's heating up today, but even hotter air is coming our way later this week.
Temperatures and dewpoints/humidity are on the rise today. At 1 p.m., we were already at 92 degrees with a heat index of 95. We will go up a few more degrees this afternoon before a cold front comes through tonight. There is the chance for a shower or thunderstorm with the front as it sags south through the state. However, it's this cold front that is holding off the more extreme heat sitting over the middle of the country - at least for now.
The cold front will pull off to the east on Wednesday. Temperatures will top out in the mid 90s already on Wednesday before jumping to the upper 90s for the end of the week. There is even the chance that we could be getting close to 100 degrees by this weekend. Even if we just stay in the 90s, the humidity/dewpoints will be high and force the heat indicies into the low 100s. This same heat wave has been breaking records right and left from Texas all the way up into Minnesota.
Statistically, this is the hottest time of the year for Baltimore. Our average high is 88 degrees. This is the highest our average high temperature gets all year. It rose to 88 degrees on the 16th and will stay there through the 25th. And July is definitely living up to its usual hot name. We spoke about 90 plus degree days a lot last year, since it was the hottest summer on record. But including today, we have hit 90 degrees or higher 21 times already this year. The average for Baltimore is 30. For just July alone, today is our 11th time at 90 plus degrees. With an entire week of 90s plus forecast this week, we will go above that average of 12 days of 90 plus degrees for the month.
In the tropics...
Tropical storm Bret has gained strength since yesterday. Winds are now up to 50 mph. Remember, that hurricane levels start at 74 mph. Bret has started a turn off to the north-northeast. The cold front moving through Maryland tonight will keep Bret away from the East Coast and eventually start kicking it way out to sea in another day or so.
