Good Thursday everyone! Today is likely to be the last day at work for a lot of you as we head into the 4th of July holiday weekend. Everyone is hoping for good weather, but Mother Nature may have something else in mind. We have a lot to get to in this blog so let's get after it.

June is now in the books and it was an interesting month to say the least. We have several bouts of severe weather to go along with a whole lot of rainfall for many areas in the western part of the tri state.  Much of central West Virginia into Ohio actually say normal to slightly below normal rains.

Temps averaged on the warm side of with many areas finishing the month 1 to 2 degrees above normal on average. This was not a hot month by any means but it worked out nicely with the summer forecast I put out back in May.

Flip the calendar to the month of July and one of the coolest openings to the month on record. Highs Wednesday only hit the low to mid 70s in many areas. Impressive cool for this time of year and it has another day with us as highs today will hit the low to mid 70s yet again. There is a chance for a shower of thunderstorm too.

Friday will see temps begin to warm some as we head toward 80 under mainly sunny skies. This will bring us to the all important 4th of July...



A chance for showers and storms is on the increase and I am not liking the look of the pattern right now for all the outdoor activities that will be going on. There is likely to be a cluster of rain and storms moving across the area during the day. This may bring some very heavy rains to some areas so keep that in mind. Areas across the west have the best chance for storms. I am not comfortable at all with the temps for Saturday as we could end up being several degrees cooler that what I am showing. That is dependent on the amount of clouds and storms around.

A few more scattered storms is possible on Sunday with the threat for more showers and storms looming for early next week.

How about the rest of July? Take a look at one of CAS Forecast Model for temps and rain...




That is showing a good chance for cooler than normal temps around here for the month on average. My thoughts of a normal to slightly below normal temps month still holds.

Just for the heck of it, here is what the same model shows for the July-September period...



Have a great day and take care.