Chief Meteorologist Patrick Rockey’s First Warning Forecast
We started the work week with drenching downpours, and it looks like we are going to end the work week with stifling heat and humidity. It is July after all, typically our hottest and wettest month of the year!
Tuesday will be our transition day with heat and humidity rising, and a chance for strong-to-severe storms late in the day and into the evening hours.
The northern portion of our area is under a Level 2 severe storm threat. That means we have a heightened risk for damaging winds, flooding downpours, and some large hail. Tornadoes are not our biggest threat, but we can never rule one out this time of the year.
Expect high temperatures before the storms get here in the upper 80s at the lower 90s, with heat index values in the mid 90s.
Hot high pressure will be dominating our weather to end the work week.
Our rain chances go down and our temperatures go up on Wednesday. Under partly cloudy skies, it looks like we will top out in the low 90s with heat index values surging into the low 100s.
A stray thunderstorm is possible on Wednesday, but not likely for most of us.
We really start to crank up the thermostat on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It looks like we will top out in the mid-to-upper 90s with heat index values anywhere from 105 to 110°.
That would put us within striking distance of hitting 100° at Norfolk International Airport for the first time since 2020. In fact, it has been 1091 days since we hit the century mark.
We start to break out of this pattern over the weekend as a slow moving cold front pushes in our direction. That front will bring a 30% chance for storms on Saturday and a 40% chance on Sunday.
Temperatures will finally drop below normal again on Monday. Stay tuned.
