Pittsburgh gets a comfortable Saturday before the heat starts building on Sunday
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Today is the pleasant day before the proverbial hot stretch arrives.
The weather will be comfortable today with highs near 80 degrees. While not everyone will hit the 80s, I have Pittsburgh hitting 80 degrees for the daily high. Noon temperatures will be in the mid-70s with light winds coming in out of the north-northwest at around 10mph.
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Going rapid fire now, highs on Sunday will hit the upper 80s. I have Monday highs in the mid-90s and will continue with highs in the mid to low 90s daily through next Sunday. While you have no doubt heard folks talking about just how hot we will get, please don't overlook the overnight temperatures. They can be just as dangerous as the hot weather.
Why?
Because heat exhaustion is cumulative.
Hot weather stresses your body in a number of ways. The bottom line is that your body has to work harder to remain at an optimum temperature. Heat isn't the only thing that comes into play, though.
Dew points are also important. The dew point is a measure of moisture at the surface. This is important because our bodies cool through the process of evaporation. We sweat, the sweat evaporates and cools us down. The more moisture there is in the air, the less efficient our bodies are in keeping us cool.
So dew points, which measure the amount of moisture in the air, are important.
The temperature also can't fall below the dew point. So in a way, you can tell how humid we will be by just looking at overnight low temperatures.
Now that I have gone through a little primer on dew points, let's talk about why overnight lows should be just as concerning as highs during the hot stretch next week.
- High morning lows indicate high humidity. Your body struggles to keep cool when humidity is high.
- Overnight lows will remain high. For people without a/c, this means little relief from the heat. Your body will not be able to reset and will continue to work hard to keep you cool.
- While highs will be bad enough, expect heat indexes to be a good 5-10 degrees warmer than highs
There are some simple things you can do to try and stay cool.
If stuck at home in the middle of the day, head to the local library or movie theater to allow your body to cool down. Take a cool shower to allow evaporation to cool your body. Drink lots of water.
Most importantly do not overdo it during this hot stretch.
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