Heat Wave Builds for Weekend

The much advertised heat wave has arrived and current indications are it will last through Monday. Thursday and Friday’s low 90s heat should be replicated through Monday. That’s great news for the kids off from school for the summer as pools will get a thorough workout. Load the kids up with a good sun block before sending them off to play.

If you are doing the Tug Valley Car and Motorcycle Show in Williamson on Saturday, downtown temperatures will crest near a sizzling 95, so drink plenty of water to stay hydrated.

The culprit for the heat, which is right on schedule this year, is a sprawling mound of high pressure centered in the Carolinas. Think of this “ridge” as a mountain of warm air that extends from the ground all the way up to 20,000 feet. It is King of the Hill until some stronger weather feature comes along.

Now try to push that mound away! That’s a tough task for any weakling front like the one that should rain for an hour or so up on Lake Erie this weekend. Walleye fishermen will be unpleasantly surprised by the quick rain which will be accompanied by thunder at Put-In-Bay on Saturday. Those same anglers will be thrilled at the gusty southwest wind that blows all weekend long. That breeze will provide a good drift and should overcome the heat and produce a nice catch! Send me e-pics of your “eyes” for my outdoors reports.

It’s “Sun-Fun” weekend at the Myrtle Beach Grand Strand. Here only an afternoon sea breeze will temper an otherwise stifling weekend of 95 degree heat. Look for the onshore breeze to kick in after high noon and knock back the temperature to 88 or 90 at beachfront. At downtown malls, no sea breeze and 95-100 degree heat is in the cards. Surf temperature has spiked to 80 for the first time this season.

The place to beat the heat this weekend will be the mountains where highs will be hot but more bearable ranging from 78 at Snowshoe (4848’ elevation) to 83 at the Raven golf course (elevation 3300’) to 87 at Shoemaker Square in Beckley and Cathedral Falls in Gauley Bridge(elevation 2500’).

By the way, my summer prediction is for 17 ninety degree days and no 100 days. That’s down from a whopping 50+ in 2007 when we realized the hottest day in more than half a century (103 Huntington, 104 Charleston on August 16th).