Weather officials predict hot, humid and stormy conditions this week, with high temperatures expected to hit the high 80s and high 90s on Thursday and Friday.
Clusters of thunderstorms and the resulting cooling air are possible on these hot days, which can reduce the heat. Wednesday will have the greatest risk of storms in the Chicago area, but National Weather Service meteorologist Kevin Doom said it’s hard to say how much that will cool temperatures.
“It’s just one of those situations where we might not have a good answer until we kind of see the whites of his eyes,” Doom said. “We’re just keeping an eye on how things are going upstream, but at the moment we’re still expecting some pretty damn hot weather (Wednesday).”
According to the National Weather Service, the heat index — what the temperature feels like to the human body — could reach up to 105 degrees every afternoon on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Doom said the higher heat indexes are likely for areas outside of downtown Chicago and the lakefront, where he’ll feel “true to what the thermometer is saying.”
Heat indices reaching or exceeding 103 degrees can lead to dangerous thermal disorders with prolonged exposure and/or physical activity in the heat, according to the National Weather Service.
This week’s warm temperatures are remnants of the heat wave that hit the western United States last week, Doom said.
“It’s moving east a bit, but luckily as it is, it’s going to subside and that’s why we don’t expect such high temperatures,” he said.
Weather officials said temperatures this week will likely surpass Chicago’s hottest day on June 23, which was 93 degrees.
“The temperature is not that high and we see these temperatures every summer. It’s just that the heat index is going to be pretty high,” Doom said.
On Monday night, smoke from Canadian wildfires blanketed Chicago. The Illinois EPA issued an air quality alert for sensitive groups that expires Tuesday at midnight.
Children and adults with lung or respiratory conditions such as asthma should limit their time outdoors due to increased levels of PM2.5, a pollutant small enough to enter the bloodstream and cause adverse health effects.
Mid-morning conditions at Midway Airport were sunny and hazy at 74 degrees.
