There will be no mistaking this for a summer day… extreme heat and humidity will steam roll into southern New England, just hours ahead of the summer solstice at 7:09pm EDT.  In fact, temperatures at 8am this morning already topped the high temperatures over the last 4 days… so not only will it be uncomfortably hot, it will be a huge shock to our bodies after a stretch of cooler-than-normal weather preceding today. Here’s the temperature graph through the day today :

Providence Temps Today

One of the changes by the National Weather Service today has been to expand the Heat Advisory to our coastal communities–like Westerly, Newport, Narragansett and Jamestown.  Just away from the shoreline, temperatures will soar into the 90s, with a heat index around 98-103° this afternoon.  As Tony mentioned in his post, use common sense to protect yourself from this potentially dangerous heat.

Another stifling day is on the way for tomorrow… and Friday is no picnic either.  A cold front will slowly move through on Friday and Friday Evening, sparking some scattered strong, or possibly severe, t’storms, with high heat and high humidity for one last day.  There’s a chance some inland areas could top 90° for a 3rd day in a row, making it an official “heat wave”.  Behind the front, temperatures will become more tolerable for the weekend.