Dangerous heat across North Texas has already made its mark, and the worst of the heat isn't even here yet!

The upcoming summer heat is a result of an expansive upper level ridge of high pressure that has been building to our west. This has resulted in nasty heat, an a "northwest flow" pattern that will set up through Friday. You may have heard your local meteorologists use the term "northwest flow", but what does it mean? With the jet stream pattern as a result of the ridge, disturbances can ride from the Rocky Mountains and slide southeastward towards DFW. Unfortunately, the axis of this ridge is simply too far west for DFW to get anything special. In this pattern, we would see "pop-up" showers and storms, but this ridge of high pressure prevents this process from happening. So, we rely on complexes that develop in Oklahoma and track southeastward, and normally these do not make it to DFW. However, remnant outflow boundaries could help out with temperatures in our northern counties, but you can't really predict these before they happen. There is SOME good news. Isolated storms may fire up tomorrow night if the CAP is able to break. More details will be coming out soon.

So what does this all mean? Oppressive heat, especially for those in Central Texas and Western North Texas. Late week into the weekend, heat index values are expected to sit around 103-106° with ambient temperatures in the upper 90s and several days may hit 100. More bad news? We were tracking a cold front in the model data that was forecast to arrive, but newest data indicates that this front will likely stall before making it all the way through. Therefore, temperatures are still expected in the upper 90s on Saturday.

Next week, the ridge of high pressure shifts east directly over the state of Texas, shutting off the slowly dripping rain tap completely. Temperatures still look dreadful, upper 90s to low 100s with no relief in the foreseeable future.

With dangerous heat in the forecast for the next week, it is imperative that you stay cool, and stay hydrated! And remember, look before you lock!

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Writer: Jay