It’s been a few weeks since the words “extreme heat” appeared in a weather forecast for central Pennsylvania.
That will soon change.
The good news? The severe weather won’t last more than a few days, although the brief return to uncomfortable heat and humidity late Wednesday afternoon and evening could produce some severe thunderstorms.
August highs in Harrisburg officially averaged 82 degrees through Sunday, nearly 2 degrees below normal. It hasn’t risen above 80 degrees since August 6, when the temperature reached 83 degrees, and there have been six days since then when the thermometer didn’t even reach 80 degrees.
But last weekend the trend began to change, with highs of 84 on Saturday and 87 on Sunday. The unofficial high on Monday was 88.
And it won’t stay that way for the next two days: Highs across central Pennsylvania will be just over 35 degrees on Tuesday and just over 35 degrees on Wednesday.
A heat warning has already been issued for an area from Philadelphia and its western suburbs north to Allentown, east across much of New Jersey, and south into parts of Delaware. The warning is triggered by the possibility of dangerously hot conditions with a possible heat index of 105.
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But unlike earlier in the summer, the intense heat and humidity are expected to be over by Wednesday evening, when showers and thunderstorms, some possibly heavy, move across much of Pennsylvania, driven by a cold front.
More storms are forecast for Thursday, and who knows, maybe Friday night will be the start of the second week of high school football, and temperatures are expected to be around 70 degrees with cloudy skies.
According to the National Weather Service (NWS), here is the most important information for the next few days:
Tuesday: sunny, hot, maximum temperature 92
Wednesday: sunny, extreme heat, high 97 and a heat index around 105
Thursday: Cloudy, possible thunderstorms, high 87
Friday: Cloudy, high 76
