Orlando weather: A steamy start to Memorial Day weekend

TODAY:

A steamy start to Memorial Day weekend with highs returning to the 90s into the afternoon. High levels of humidity will allow for heat index values to climb to 100-105° from Orlando and to the south. Be sure to take breaks from outside and drink plenty of fluids throughout this weekend. There is a chance of isolated showers and storms along a seabreeze collision in the afternoon. The best chance of rain and storms will be in areas east of I-4 and south of Cape Canaveral. An isolated severe storm will be possible for southern Brevard County. Damaging winds, hail, and frequent lightning will be the main risks. Any storms should fall apart after sunset. Lows will fall into the low to mid 70s overnight.

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND:

Near-record heat will be possible throughout the rest of the holiday weekend. Highs will reach the mid to even upper 90s. The humidity levels will also ramp up, yielding heat index, 'feels like' temps approaching 102-107°. We may see the NWS issue a few heat advisories. There's little hope this hot pattern will break after the weekend. In fact, the high pressure system inducing this heat wave stays put stubbornly through next week with mid-to-upper 90s remaining across our region. This will limit our typical afternoon storm chances to less than 20-30% in most cases next week. So the only relief will be some hit-or-miss downpours but nothing numerous.

LOOKING AHEAD:

Taking a look at the extended forecast, a surge of tropical moisture may try to make a run at Florida for the first week or two of June, at the least resulting in higher coverage of afternoon soaking sea breeze storms. At worst a tropical system may try to come together in the Caribbean, focusing all that rain into a concentrated area. If that happens, our overall rain chances would likely diminish unless said potential system was to track into Florida. This scenario is a reach however, as there's low certainty anything tropical will form, much less track into our area. Overall, we face 10-15 days of intense heat with highs 5-10° above our normal of 90°. Ultimately, the rainy season will naturally break this heat wave's intensity and tenacity with daily afternoon storms and highs closer to what's typical for this time of year.