Weather Alert: Heat wave continues, isolated storm chances for Columbus area

QUICK WEATHER FORECAST:

• Today: Hot, muggy, isolated storms, high 95
• Tonight: Warm and muggy, low 73
• Thursday: Hot, humid, isolated storm, high 96
• Friday: Hot and humid, high 97
• Saturday: Hot and humid, high 97
• Sunday: Sct'd PM storms, humid, high 94

FORECAST DISCUSSION:

Happy Wednesday!

Our heat wave stretches on for Central Ohio, with air temperatures sticking in the middle 90s, but "feels-like" temps into the triple digits. This brings the threat for isolated storm chances during the afternoon/evening timeframes. Additionally, in the high heat, ozone production increases, which puts our air quality into the moderate category, which is unhealthy for extremely sensitive groups.

This high heat, with heat indices into the triple digits, stretches into most of the weekend, but eventually into Sunday, a cold front approaches. That front brings us some scattered storms during the back half of the day. Eventually, it knocks temperatures back toward normal for Monday, into the middle 80s. It will also be much less muggy.

But it's not a real long-lived "cool down," as temperatures approach the 90s once again on Tuesday.

Stay hydrated, keep the sunscreen handy, wear light colors, and make sure you're checking the pavement on the dog walks. If it's too hot to keep your hand there for 5 seconds, then it's too hot for dog paws.

-McKenna