90s, uncomfortable air set to return

The heat and humidity are once again heading for Michiana. And, they will be at their peak over the weekend. It seems like every time temperatures soar into the 90s this year, it occurs between Friday and Sunday. While this wave of hot temperatures won't be as intense as the last few, it will still be uncomfortable for 3-4 days thanks to increasing humidity values. Friday and Saturday will likely be the hottest days with actual temperatures around 90°, if not a couple degrees higher. If the clouds stay away, Saturday will likely see highs well into the 90s.

Sunday and Monday are more complex because showers, storms and clouds will be more likely. For those who see less of that on Sunday and Monday, 90° will once again be attainable. Regardless of whether or not we reach 90° on Sunday and Monday, it will still feel uncomfortable with very muggy conditions expected to be in place. It will "feel like" the middle to perhaps upper 90s at times throughout the weekend, but triple digits are not expected at this time, nor are any Heat Advisories.

If we add two more 90-degree days to our total by the end of the day Saturday (likely to happen), we will be at 13 for the year. That is significantly more than we typically see thru July 15th. The average? South Bend usually sees about seven 90-degree days by the midpoint of July. And, if 90° is seen on Sunday, South Bend will officially have seen double the amount of 90-degree days that it normally gets thru July 15th. Not only that, but Michiana hasn't seen a year with this many 90s this early in the summer since 2012! 

Seeing the mercury soar to 90° multiple times in May, June and the first half of July isn't unusual, though. By the time we get to Sunday, there will have been 18 previous years with more 90-degree days by July 15th. Despite that, 2018 will go down as abnormally warm thru mid-July. The good news is that long-range forecast models advertise a good chance of cooler temperatures by next week (July 17th or so). It won't be "cool" by any means, but our models and the Climate Prediction Center suggest a chance of many "cooler-than-normal" days during the July 18th-24th period. Cooler-than-normal days would be days with high temperatures at or below 82°. At this time, multiple days below 80° looks like a good possibility!