Fall begins on Thursday, and the weather seems to know that. We’re going to squeeze every drop out of summer this week.
A large expanse of above-average temperatures–in some cases by over 15 degrees–will cover much of the country east of the Rockies this week.
Parts of the Plains and Southeast will approach or even set record highs in the 90s, and a handful of places could even top 100 degrees.
Late-season heat is not unusual, but this level of widespread warmth beyond the midpoint of September is noteworthy. Between Monday and Thursday, about 80 daily high temperature records could get challenged or go by the wayside entirely.
Unlike bouts of heat in the middle of summer, though, this one won’t have sweltering humidity. While there’ll be noticeable mugginess, it’ll be reasonably tolerable, since the heat index won’t get out of hand. Even so, those spending time outdoors will still need to take care of themselves.
Just in the nick of time for fall, though, a strong cold front will dive in from Canada, knocking temperatures back 20 to 30 degrees over just a day or two. Thursday’s heat will confine itself to Texas and the Southeast, while those farther north feel like autumn usually does.
Much of the country will have seasonable late-September weather this weekend.