After a hot and humid start, some relief will be in store for a few days as Centre County summer festivals get fully underway this week.
Centre County is under a heat advisory through 8 p.m. on Wednesday with temperatures expected to approach 90 degrees and heat index values — what the temperature feels like to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature — reaching 100.
On Wednesday, as the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts gets underway with Children and Youth Day and Philipsburg Heritage Days begins, expect higher humidity than on Tuesday and the possibility of showers or a thunderstorm as the region sees fringe effects of Hurricane Beryl.
“I think tomorrow becomes another oppressive day. It will be very humid,” AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tom Kines said. “How warm it gets is going to depend on the amount of sunshine we get. I think temperatures should get well up into the 80s tomorrow.
“And we do have the risk of a shower or thunderstorm at some point during the afternoon. With this tropical air in place, it’s not out of the question that there’s downpours that accompany any shower or thunderstorm that we get. For those who are venturing out tomorrow, be prepared for that.”
The greatest threat for a shower or storm on Wednesday will be in the afternoon, but one could pop up in the morning, Kines said.
Thursday, however, should be much more comfortable as the Arts Festival begins in earnest with the start of the Sidewalk Sale and Exhibition and other events including the People’s Choice Festival and Way Fruit Farm’s Art in the Orchard get underway.
High temperatures on Thursday and Friday will likely be in the upper 70s to low 80s.
“Thursday and Friday right now look like pretty good days,” Kines said. “They should not be as hot as [Tuesday and Wednesday], nor as humid. It’s probably going to feel pretty comfortable on Thursday and probably a good chunk of Friday as well.”
Saturday and Sunday look to be much hotter, with highs again approaching 90, but should be mostly dry.
“I think the humidity is going to creep up as well,” Kines said. “Most, if not all of the weekend, ought to be dry. At some point over the weekend, as this hotter, more humid air comes in, that there might be a thunderstorm that pops up, but most of the time it’s going to be rain-free.”
