We made it through the entire month of June without any widespread 90-degree weather. Portland and the entire coastline missed reaching 90 degrees even once, so certainly there weren’t any heat waves. Some inland areas did nick 90 degrees, but nothing widespread.

An official heat wave is defined in this part of the country as three days or more when the actual temperature reaches 90 degrees; it’s not how it feels outside with the humidity, rather it’s the actual air temperature.

Today has the possibility of the hottest day so far this summer. Portland reached 87 on May 28 and 31, we might be warmer today. I expect areas just west of Portland to reach 90 degree or even a little higher and even the city will push well into the 80s. If this was going to become a heat wave this would be day one for inland areas. Some areas in southwestern New England and even interior Massachusetts might see a minimal 3-day heat wave reaching 90 or better Thursday and Friday, but not anywhere in Maine.

The humidity will also be high so it will feel warmer than the actual air temperatures by a few degrees.   There is no chance of any rain and we are still smack in the middle of a drought across much of the region.

Air quality will fall a bit today, but as of this writing there aren’t any warnings or advisories.  If you are healthy you likely won’t notice anything more than the air is hazy, but if you have any respiratory issues, it can be harder to breath during the heat of the day, so keep outdoor activity to a minimum if possible.

The pattern does change a bit starting tomorrow and lasting into the first part of the weekend. What’s happening atmospherically are some pieces of energy moving within the jet stream will help to kick off some showers and storms tomorrow and Friday.  The weekend has a lot of uncertainty with the forecast.  It could be quite wet Saturday or end up with just a few showers.

The rainfall from the three days Thursday to Saturday could actually end up being beneficial for those of you who see some heavier downpours, but as is often the case in summer around here other areas will miss the showers completely.

When you read about these showers in the forecast it’s always important to remember we aren’t talking about a rainy day.  There will be dry periods, sunshine and as I wrote, some of you might go an entire day without any rainfall.

The humidity will remain high today and fall a bit late this week; one of the reasons for the possibility of heavier downpours is because of the elevated moisture levels.  If you don’t like the humidity, it will lower by Sunday and that day is presently my pick for the upcoming weekend.  Temperatures will also remain at seasonable levels.

It’s interesting to me we haven’t gotten into a prolonged pattern of heat and humidity just yet.  A couple of months ago many forecasts called for a very hot summer here in the northeast.  There’s still plenty of time left for lots of heat, but for at least the first third of meteorological summer, it hasn’t been bad.