Dangerous heat continues this week, slight change mid-week

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB-TV) – Welcome to day 10 in a row of either a Heat Advisory or Excessive Heat Warning in the Panhandle. Today, we have another Excessive Heat Warning for all of northwest Florida until 7 p.m. CDT. While temperatures will range from the low-mid 90s along the coastline to just shy of 100 degrees inland, the humidity will make it feel more like 110-120 degrees! Please stay cool by avoiding long exposure to the sun, taking breaks in the shade or air conditioning, wearing light-weight and light-colored clothing and staying hydrated.

An upper-level ridge will be the culprit for the heat again this week. Today, rain chances will be typical of our normal pop-up pattern, only enhanced by clashing outflow boundaries. The best chance to see the scattered showers and storms will be in the afternoon hours, especially inland. Isolated pop-ups are more likely along the coastline.

Tomorrow, a frontal boundary will work into the southeast. By the time it reaches the Deep South, though, it will be slowing down and stalling out. Rain chances will rise through the middle of the week as the boundary remains stalled across the Panhandle. Scattered showers and storms are most likely Tuesday through Thursday. The good news here is not only do we need some rain, but also, the higher probability of rainfall will likely result in a slight drop in temperatures, especially with more cloud cover present. Though, even at that, we’re not talking a significant change. Temperatures are forecast to hover near 90 mid-week for coastal areas and the low-mid 90s inland.

By the end of the work week and heading into the weekend, we may see some drier air slip into the Panhandle if the frontal boundary pushes south of us. That would result in lower rain chances and perhaps, higher temperatures. However, with the drier air present, the “feels like” temperature or heat index will not be as high as it has been recently due to extremely humid conditions and more moisture in the atmosphere. Therefore, it would feel pretty true to the air temperature.