High temperatures expected through weekend, breaks on Sunday, Monday predicted

The hot temperatures and high humidity that have plagued Pittsburgh all week are likely to stick around through the weekend.

According to WTAE meteorologists, temperatures are expected to hit 95 on Friday, 96 on Saturday, 92 on Sunday and 85 on Monday.

“(Temperatures) will drop down into the mid-80s on Monday as a cold front will finally break down this heat dome,” WTAE meteorologist Ashley Dougherty said.

No new record highs have been set this week, according to WTAE meteorologist Jeff Verszyla, but normal highs this time of June are in the low 80s.

“We are running about 10-12 degrees above average,” he said.

The cold front that will move through on Sunday will bring some chance of rain or thunderstorms, he added, and lower humidity as temperatures move to the 80s.

Lee Hendricks, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Pittsburgh office, said the heat pattern might end Saturday night, with low temperatures in the mid-70s. Sunday night, temperatures are likely to only reach the upper 60s, with less humidity.

“The humidity is going to be a lot lower on Sunday night than it has been in quite a while,” he said. “Sunday night is going to be the transition from the abnormally warm humid air into something more seasonal.”

The U.S. is moving into a very active La Niña pattern, he said.

“What the La Niña does for the mid-Atlantic U.S. and the southeastern U.S. is it brings in much warmer than normal temperatures during the summer and early fall, as well as near-normal precipitation,” he said.

A more active than normal Atlantic tropical storm season also is expected.