Dry weather arrives along with the summer solstice (and then heat!)

Ahhhhhh....feel that? Low temperatures around Mecklenburg County this Friday morning were in the mid-60s thanks to lowered dew points. Much drier air filtered in behind Thursday's cold front, providing end-of-the-work-week relief from this week's tropical stickiness. 

The Storm Prediction Center was on point with yesterday's severe weather risk prediction. Here is a map of storm reports across Virginia from Thursday's action:

Straight line winds coupled with wet soil toppled a fair amount of trees across the Old Dominion.

Meanwhile, today looks to feature much nicer conditions. A light breeze will complement the drier air, with temperatures topping out in the mid to upper 80s under sunny skies. Another thing to note this evening is the official arrival of astronomical summer. At 10:42 p.m. the summer solstice occurs, marking the calendar change of seasons most folks are familiar with.

This seasonal change also comes with an extended bout of heat beginning this weekend. Saturday will be fairly comfortable, with morning lows dipping into the upper 60s and afternoon highs reaching the 90º mark. By Sunday the heat arrives with a vengeance, accompanied by higher dew points and thus stickier humidity. Local thermometers will register afternoon highs in the mid-90s to end the weekend.

Next week appears to be a sizzler, with daily highs near (or even above) triple digits. Sunday's blog post will take a closer look at the setup. In the meantime soak in today's pleasantness as much as possible.