Hot weather lurks for Washington, D.C. next week

Bermuda high is forecast to develop mid-to-late next week circulating hot air over the mid-Atlantic. (StormVistaWxModels.com) It’s Washington, D.C. about to enter late June. The blissful breeze, low humidity, and near-perfect temperature levels of late can’t and won’t last forever. Indeed, long range computer models agree hotter, stickier times are around the corner.

Next week, slowly but surely, a classic “Bermuda high” pattern will evolve. What happens is simple: as high pressure drifts from the East Coast over the Atlantic towards Bermuda, the clockwise circulation around it acts like a heat pump, channeling oppresively moist tropical air up the East Coast.

Maximum heat index forecast for the mid-Atlantic next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday by NOAA’s Hydrometeorological Prediction CenterIt’s a little too early to say exactly how hot it will get.

NOAA’s Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (HPC) predicts the maximum heat index - what it feels like combining the heat and humidity - will ascend as such:

Monday: 82

Tuesday: 87

Wednesday: 93

Thursday: 96

By Thursday, the heat index has a 20 percent chance of exceeding 100 HPC says.

These temperatures are not record-breaking and lower than peak levels reached last June, but could be the hottest of 2012 to date.

Enjoy the weekend before the sultriness seeps in.