CHARLESTON — Temperatures today, Saturday and part of Sunday will be well north of 90 degrees across much of West Virginia — including Monongalia County.
When combined with humidity levels in the range of 70, it’s going to be an extremely warm weekend. The National Weather Service said the “feels like” temperature, or heat index, will be 100 to 110 degrees in some locations.
“Feels like temperature is calculated from a combination of the air temperature and the dew point and what it feels like to the human body given those two parameters,” said Meteorologist Ross Giarratana of the National Weather Service in Charleston, speaking on MetroNews’ “Talkline.”
The NWS issued Excessive Heat Warnings for 16 counties for today into Saturday evening. Sixteen more are under a heat advisory or heat watch for the same time period. Even nights will be warm with lows in the upper 70s or 80s across
the lowlands.
“We have widespread alerts already in effect, the excessive heat warnings are generally along and west of the I-79 corridor. Heat advisories stretch from Taylor County through Lewis County and down into Mingo County,” he said.
The only counties not under the advisories
are the high mountain counties.
Despite the intense humidity, Giarratana predicted there won’t be much rain beyond an occasional pop-up shower.
“With all of the hot air at the surface and mid-levels of the atmosphere, it may actually prevent thunderstorm development,” he explained.
It’s possible some locations might set record highs on those days, but Giarratana added a heat wave, during July, isn’t that unusual.
“There are some areas that will be close to record high territory, but typically in the summer season you could always expect some prolonged period of hot weather like this.” he said.
The counties named in the warning are Wayne, Cabell, Mason, Jackson, Wood, Pleasants, Tyler, Lincoln, Putnam, Kanawha, Roane, Wirt, Calhoun, Ritchie and Doddridge counties.
Meteorologists have issued an excessive heat watch for Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel, Marion, Monongalia, Morgan, Berkeley and Jefferson counties.
A high of 92 is expected today in Morgantown, said Alan Reppert, AccuWeather senior meteorologist. While it will cool down a bit in the evening, the low only dips to 79. Saturday will likely be a bit warmer, with a high of 94 and a low of 75. He said the humidity will stick around through Sunday, possibly until Tuesday. However, a couple of thunderstorms may pop up Sunday, cooling things down a bit — with a high of 88 and low of 69.
“Generally, it’s a good idea to stay indoors, if at all possible,” he said. “Try to limit your exposure during the 10 a.m.-3 p.m. timeframe. Stay hydrated and wear loose, lightweight clothing.”
He said it’s also a good idea to limit pets’ time outside as well. And, like their two-legged counterparts, they’ll need plenty of water.
The City of Morgantown issued a statement via social media Thursday that “due to expected high temperatures and humidity throughout the next few days, Republic Service will begin their service an hour earlier” today to protect the well-being of workers.
Mingo, Logan, Boone, Clay, Braxton and Taylor counties are among
the counties under a
heat advisory.
