Meteorologist Kristy Steward's First Warning Forecast
Happy Wednesday evening! It has been a hot one today! Heat indices 100°+. Today was the hottest day of the week, but tomorrow won’t feel any better. Thursday will only be a degree cooler, still feeling like 100°. Relief is on the way soon though!
A cold front will eventually pass through Friday night and ahead of it, a disturbance will impact us Thursday. This will bring us scattered thunderstorms primarily Thursday evening throughout Friday.
All of our Virginia counties are in a Level 1 severe weather risk Thursday afternoon and evening with a Level 2 risk in effect for the Eastern Shore and Peninsulas. Everyone has a threat for heavy rain that could lead to flooding concerns and damaging winds. Areas surrounding the Chesapeake Bay have a greater risk for those damaging winds.
With storm activity continuing throughout Friday, Friday will be cooler with highs in the mid 80s.
The storms will come to an end once the cold front passes Friday night, then high pressure will settle in. That will keep us cooler with lower humidity for the weekend. Saturday and Sunday will both have highs in the low to mid 80s and low temperatures near 70°. An isolated shower will still be possible Saturday as that high pressure system moves in and we transition into a quieter weather pattern.
The Fourth of July looks nice and dry. A very pleasant day for outdoor celebrations!
Heat and humidity gradually creep back in the first half of next week, back up to 90°. Monday and Tuesday should remain mostly dry.
In the central Atlantic Ocean, there is Potential Tropical Cyclone Five. It has a 70% chance of formation over the next 48 hours and 90% chance of formation over the next 5 days. This system is currently 1300 miles east-southeast of the Windward Islands, moving west-northwest at 20-25 MPH toward the Lesser Antilles and Caribbean Sea. It will likely be named Elsa. It’s way too early to tell if Elsa will have any impacts on us locally or not.
Meteorologist Kristy Steward
