Astronomical summer officially begins at 4:51 p.m. Thursday, when the sun's rays will be directly overhead the Tropic of Cancer (23.5 degrees north latitude). Since Mecklenburg county is further north than that - at 36.64 degrees north latitude - the sun won't be directly overhead at noon, but it will reach its highest point of the year. Locally, sunrise will be at 5:56 a.m. and sunset won't occur until 8:36 p.m. tomorrow.
Meanwhile weather conditions will be pretty much average for this point in June. Temperatures today - Wednesday - will approach the 90 degree mark after this morning's readings in the low 60s. A light breeze will be out of the east thanks to the clockwise flow around high pressure located off the New England coast. Thursday's weather will pretty much be "copy and paste" with similar temperatures and winds.
Then by Friday that high pressure out over the Atlantic will have dropped far enough south to become the latest version of a Bermuda High. Winds in Mecklenburg county will swap around out of the southwest, pumping much warmer and moister air from the Gulf of Mexico into the region. Temperatures will march into the mid- and upper 90s for the weekend, accompanied by very sticky humidity.
A heat wave will thus be in full swing this weekend, continuing into next week as shown on this graphic:
One aspect of a heat wave such as this is a lack of nocturnal cooling. By Sunday morning the "low" temperatures will only drop to the mid-70s. That lack of cooling off at night increases heat stress on people, animals, and vegetation.
The other weather factor to mention here is the continued dry conditions. In fact, the Climate Prediction Center is concerned about a "Flash Drought" developing across Virginia next week:
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