Hottest temps of summer are on the way next week
There’s been no shortage of hot weather so far this summer, but the hottest temperatures of the season — at least to date — may be on the way for next week.
NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center is projecting likely above-average temperatures for the entire eastern U.S. next week, which translates to at least a 70% chance of above-average temperatures. The average high temperature in Oneida for late July is 86°.
Temperatures next week are expected to be in the 90s on the Cumberland Plateau, pushing close to 100° in valley locations on either side of the plateau, with heat indices pushing into the low 100s throughout the region.
According to the current National Weather Service forecast, the northern plateau region, including Scott County, could hit 90° as soon as Tuesday.
Daily thunderstorm chances are expected to continue through next week’s heat wave, although daily storm chances won’t be as great as they’re expected to be this weekend, when afternoon thunderstorms will be a near certainty each day.
The story of summer to this point has been steamy weather — above-average temperatures and above-average rainfall. Although there haven’t been any extreme temperatures so far — the hottest temperature recorded in Oneida has been 94°, back in June — the average temperature is running about two degrees warmer than normal for the month of July, after also running two degrees warmer than normal in June. Simultaneously, the area has a rainfall surplus of nearly six inches since the meteorological start of summer on June 1.
Next week’s hot spell is not expected to be short-lived; there are some indications that it could stretch through the remainder of July and into August. In fact, some modeling indicates that the following week could be even hotter than next week, with triple-digit temperatures covering a large swath of the U.S., although that’s far enough out that it’s subject to significant changes between now and then.
The emerging pattern shows eery similarities to 1980, which stands alone, even 45 years later, as the definition of a relentless heat wave during summer’s dog days in Tennessee. Scott County experienced much-above-normal temperatures during the months of July, August and September in 1980, and the average temperature was an astounding 10 degrees above normal throughout the month of August 1980 — an almost unheard of anomaly. It currently seems very unlikely that temperatures across the northern plateau will be nearly as hot during the upcoming heat wave as they were in 1980, but the looming heat wave could rival the 1980 heat wave in terms of longevity, if current long-term modeling projections prove to be true.