6 First Alert Weather Day - Late summer heat wave begins today

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Today is a First Alert Weather Day as a late summer heat wave really kicks into gear. Afternoon highs will climb toward the upper 90s with heat index readings around 100 degrees.

The morning hours will be fairly comfortable as we start off the day in the mid-60s. Lower humidity and a light south breeze will help to make things feel comfortable through mid-morning, but strong sunshine will heat us up quickly. Temperatures will push back into the mid and upper 80s by Noon, jumping into the 90s by early afternoon. High temperatures should top out in the mid and upper 90s for most of the area, between 96 and 98 for most of the Omaha metro. Not quite as hot as the previous heat wave, but something you’ll still need to plan for if you will be spending a lot of time outdoors this weekend.

Despite the lower humidity today, the heat index will likely still push into the upper 90s to around 100 degrees. The hottest hours will be from mid-afternoon through early evening before we start to cool down after sunset.

Sunday will feature another comfortable morning, but we heat up very quickly with afternoon highs in the mid and upper 90s. The hot weather will continue for Monday and Tuesday, with highs between 96 and 98 degrees for the metro area. The humidity may increase slightly heading into Tuesday, helping to push the heat index up closer to 105 degrees or so for Tuesday afternoon. That may end up being the hottest day of this heat wave.

A cold front arrives Tuesday night into Wednesday bring a chance for a few spotty storms as well as some slightly cooler conditions. Temperatures will fall back into the upper 80s for Wednesday, still very warm but not quite as hot. The rest of next week will feature highs in the upper 80s to around 90, well above average for this time of year but not as hot as what we will see this weekend.

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