DOVER — The calendar may have flipped to September, but summer is not ready to surrender to the fast approaching fall.
For the past three days it has reached 90 degrees or above, according to the National Weather Service, but temperatures are expected to cool off just in time for Labor Day weekend.
Westside Car Wash employee Andrew Connolly of Dover beats the hazy 91-degree heat Thursday afternoon with an ice-cold bottle of water over his head. Expect temperatures to be more comfortable for the Labor Day weekend. (Delaware State News/Dave Chambers)
“Today (Thursday) we’re expecting it to be the last day of high temperatures,” said Lance Frank, NWS meteorologist. “By the weekend temperatures will be back to the low to mid-80s and it will be less humid.”
Mr. Frank said high pressure from the South and the West has brought warm air to the area.
“The pattern of the jet scream is different,” Mr. Frank said. “It dipped south across the eastern half of the United States. This brought warmer air to the East, which is the reason for the high temperatures.”
The jet stream is a ribbon of fast winds aloft in the upper atmosphere that helps dictate the weather conditions meteorologists see near the surface of the earth.
A weak cold front will approach today and could set off a brief shower or thunderstorm.
But as it passes through it will lower the temperatures and humidity for the weekend.
The rainfall has seemed non-existent in August.
Mr. Frank said the rainfall for August has been less than average, as there only been about 1.52 inches of rain.
“1.73 is the average and it was well below that,” Mr. Frank said. “It was a dry month in August. The temperatures were above average, but the summer as whole started out with a lot of rain.
“The rainfall in June was 12.5. That’s a huge difference.”
But the warmth will build again across the region for the latter part of the Labor Day weekend and into the middle of next week.
“Next week temperatures will be slightly above average,” Mr. Frank said. “It will stay in the low to mid-80s. It remains to be seen if we will have another 90-degree day.”
Mr. Frank said over the course of the summer there were 12 days where the temperature was 90 degrees or above.
“The average temperature around this time of year is about 80 degrees,” Mr. Frank said. “We’re 10 to 15 degrees above normal right now.”
“Even though next week will be to the low to the mid-80s that’s still pretty high than what we are used to,” Mr. Frank added.
“The heat will naturally begin to slowly fade away, but temperatures may remain warmer than average a little bit longer.”