Morning lows dipped to around 50 degrees in most communities. Highs today will be near 80°. I have Pittsburgh hitting 79°. We should see plenty of sunshine with noon temperatures in the mid-70s. Winds will be light and out of the north.

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Temperatures will be very similar this weekend to what we see today, with highs just ticking up into the low 80s and morning lows in the mid to upper 50s.  Humidity will tick up to the low range (from nonexistent right now) starting on Sunday.

Weekly drought monitor maps come out at 8:30 this morning. Expect abnormally dry conditions for most, if not all, of our area, with up to half of our area showing moderate drought levels.

NOAA's Drought Monitor will issue weekly drought maps at 8:30 this morning.  

I expect slightly worsening drought-like conditions with the chance that our entire area will be listed as abnormally dry.  Last week was also the first time we had seen moderate drought conditions back in our area, and I would expect that area will also grow. 

When it comes to improving conditions, we won't improve next week with little to no rain expected over the next seven days. I do maintain the small passing shower chance late Saturday into Sunday morning, but model data has not been consistent there.  

The only thing model data is in agreement on is that the chance for rain over the weekend is low, and if you see some rain, it will be less than 0.05" of rain.  Certainly not a lot.

What will be fairly consistent over the next week is the blocking pattern with a powerful ridge of high pressure anchored over Texas & Oklahoma. This ridge is powerful enough to 'block' the flow of short waves along the jet stream to its north.  

This includes us.  

Until this ridge breaks down, we will see little to no rain. So, how long are we going to go? If we don't see any rain on Sunday morning, right now it looks like the next chance for rain comes next Thursday.

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