Forecast: The doggiest of the dog days

Very hot day today with some relief in the following days

* Relentless heat roasts Russia | Massive ice chunk breaks off glacier *
* Outside now? Radar, lightning, temps & more: Weather Wall *
* 90+ days in 2010: 49 (Apr-May 5, Jun-July-Aug 44); Record 67 (1980) *
* Air Quality: Code orange (unhealthy for sensitive groups) | NatCast *

Today's Daily Digit

 

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EXPRESS FORECAST

Today: Partly to mostly sunny and very hot. 95-99. | Tonight: Partly cloudy. 75-79. | Tomorrow: Mostly cloudy, but still humid. 91-96. | A Look Ahead | Get Express Forecast by E-mail

FORECAST IN DETAIL

While July is historically the hottest time of the summer (from a climatology perspective), we frequently think of August as the "dog days of summer." The "Dog Days" apparently originate from the star Sirius, whose close proximity to the sun was blamed for hot weather. I had thought it just referred to poor dogs having to heavily pant in the painful heat and sun. Today is definitely going to be one of those days, but we should get a break later this week, before a big summer heat culprit, the Bermuda High, begins to return to the area this weekend.

Today (Tuesday): Yet another impressive ridge of high pressure over the Ohio Valley will send a hot westerly flow into our area, acting like a blowtorch to push our high temperatures into the mid-to-upper 90s today (reachable records are 97 at Dulles and 98 at Reagan National). The humidity is moderate to high, but at least we have a light breeze under partly to mostly sunny skies. Confidence: High

Tonight: Muggy uncomfortable weather prevails under mostly clear skies. Lows are expected to only drop into the middle 70s, but I would not be surprised to see spots in the city stop at around 80 by early morning. Winds will be mostly light. Confidence: High

Keep reading for the forecast through the weekend...

Tomorrow (Wednesday): A boundary from the north will work to push the Midwest heat ridge back to the west a bit. This will switch our winds to coming from the north and may cloud up our skies. I believe we should still have enough heat lingering around to manage the low-to-mid 90s. Confidence: Medium

Tomorrow Night: A 20% chance of storms must be included with partly to mostly cloudy skies and cooler overnight temperatures in the low-to-mid 70s. Light winds will come from the north or northeast. Confidence: Medium

A LOOK AHEAD

Thursday should offer some relief from today and Wednesday's hotter weather. Partly to mostly cloudy skies, light winds from the north and northeast, and a 60% likelihood of thunderstorms is favored. Highs should be in the mid-to-upper 80s. Partly cloudy skies and a 40% chance of storms continues on Thursday night as lows drop into the low-to-mid 70s. Confidence: Low-Medium

I'm expecting Friday to be partly to mostly cloudy with a 40% chance of thunderstorms. Highs should be in the mid-to-upper 80s and while not as uncomfortable as earlier this week, there will still be a noticeable level of humidity in the air. Confidence: Low-Medium

The weekend is still looking a bit uncertain. While the hot Midwest ridge pattern is breaking down, we are seeing signs that a Bermuda high ridge is starting to build westward back into our area. This is another route for heat and humidity, but it looks like it may build in gradually over the weekend. That means that Saturday could see highs in the upper 80s with Sunday seeing low 90s. Lows should be in the low 70s, but upper 60s are possible in the suburbs. We should see partly to mostly sunny skies, but there is also a persistent 30% chance of late day thunderstorms. Confidence: Low