One of the hottest weekends of the year so far is expected across the Baton Rouge area as a heat dome pushes temperatures well above normal and limits rain chances.
The daily temperatures will be in the mid to upper 90s, according to the National Weather Service. Heat index values, or what the temperature feels like, could climb into the mid-100s through the weekend, with readings in some areas expected to reach as high as 107 degrees, according to NWS.
Brigette Lim, a meteorologist with the NWS office in New Orleans/Baton Rouge, said the extreme heat is being caused by a heat dome stretching across much of the eastern United States.
“It’s really just the current weather pattern we are in,” she said. “We have a ridge that is building up way into the north, so even places further up north, like Chicago, are going to be quite hot because there is this big heat dome over the eastern half of the United States.”
She said that the heat dome also suppresses the chance of rain. She said the temperature will drop back into the lower 90s on Tuesday, with storms expected to bring temperatures down.
Going into the Fourth of July weekend, although it falls outside the seven-day forecast, Lim said temperatures are expected to remain above the 30-year average high of 91 degrees for early July.