ROANOKE, Va. – After the relentless heat and humidity last week, we’ll have a bit of a break to kick off this week.
Temperatures reside in the low to mid 80s throughout the region Monday and Tuesday, with nothing but sunny skies in store. It’ll feel a lot drier outside, as the humidity subsides for at least a couple days. It’ll be a phenomenal day to spend outside.
Wednesday is when the heat cranks back up, with temperatures approaching the 90-degree mark throughout the area. The humidity will slowly increase as well throughout the day.
July 4th will be a hot one for sure, with temperatures climbing into the mid-90s and humidity really beginning to ramp up. The ample moisture in the air will be enough to potentially fuel a few pop-up showers and storms in the afternoon and evening, but nothing widespread. Friday will be extremely similar to what we can expect on Thursday.
As we head into the weekend, the chance of showers and storms ramps up, with the most widespread rainfall appearing to be on Sunday. While it is still early to tell for sure, all indications point to us getting a bit of rain, which would be much needed to put a dent in drought conditions.
A little more than 2,000 miles to our southeast, Hurricane Beryl continues to churn in the Caribbean. Beryl re-intensified into a Category 4 storm as I was writing this article with sustained winds over 130 MPH. This storm is extremely dangerous for anyone in the Caribbean and around the Yucatán Peninsula, but will not threaten our area.
Beryl is the first Category 4 storm on record for the month of June, with records dating back to 1851. Contributing to its rapid intensification are sea surface temperatures in the Caribbean running around 3-4 degrees above average, and a uniform wind shear pattern that helped with keeping the storm organized.