Pittsburgh's weekend weather ends with isolated storm chances before heat wave moves in

Similar to yesterday, our weather will remain unsettled through the day with plenty of cloud cover and a chance of rain that will peak in the afternoon hours. I have highs today, hitting the upper 70s just briefly before we settle into the mid-70s for most of the afternoon behind our initial round of rain. 

There is a chance of storms today, with places along and south of I-70 seeing the highest chance for a storm or two. Storms aren't expected to be severe, but any storm will be dangerous, with lightning and a brief downpour being possible. 

Please head inside if you hear thunder.

With the rain around, it's a little difficult to get a peg on where high temperatures will land. If we were dry all day today, we would hit the mid-80s. 

If rain arrives when I think it will, during the afternoon, we will see highs near 80 degrees. If rain arrives before noon, we will only see highs hit the mid-70s. 

Humidity levels are in the moderate to high range, so it'll feel a little soupy outside, especially this morning, with relative humidity numbers higher than 90 percent.

Looking ahead, the heat is set to arrive beginning on Tuesday. Model data and ensembles point to the powerful ridge that pushes our temperatures into the 90s being around through at least next Sunday and maybe even next Monday. I am keeping our highs in the 90s through Sunday, with daily low temperatures remaining in the 70s. 

For most, the 90s are just a minor inconvenience or an extra reason to get out to the pool. There are those who don't have A/C, though, or who may struggle with hot weather. For those, this stretch of hot weather will tax their body with heat exhaustion, wearing them down. 

Right now, I have this heat wave lasting 6 days. That would be the longest stretch of 90-degree days in more than five years. We had a stretch of 8 days in July of 2020. 

The next longest stretch was five days of 90-degree weather in a row. We have had three five-day stretches of 90-degree weather since 2020.