Prepare for a HOT weekend across the Deep South. The only places that will escape the heat will be along the Gulf Coast and Florida. Otherwise, we will see record breaking temperatures from Friday through at least Sunday. The culprit is a large ridge of high pressure across the midsection of the nation. It will slide east this afternoon and makes temperatures climb into the upper 90s. The century mark is in the forecast tomorrow and Saturday before the heat slackens some Sunday. Some models are printing out highs above 104°, which is the all-time record high for Columbus. I'm not forecasting highs that hot, but we'll see low 100s across the board tomorrow and Saturday.
A bit of moisture is expected to nudge in from the south starting Sunday, so I bumped the high into the upper 90s. Just know that a few locations will see triple digit heat Sunday, even with the increase in moisture. The ridge weakens some next week, but we're still expecting highs in the mid to upper 90s as we head into the July 4th holiday.
Here's a few graphics to illustrate what I'm talking about:
Forecast highs according to the models:
500 mb heights and Vorticity tomorrow afternoon showing the high over north Georgia:
