Heat wave broken up by cool-air front

By Teresa Moore/The Ironton Tribune

When he was running for president, Warren G. Harding promised a “return to normalcy.”

The phrase was odd but Harding became famous for it — and it might describe the weather for the next few days.

“It’s definitely cooler today than it was last week and over the weekend,”National Weather Service meteorologist Kari Fleegel said Tuesday. “A cold front slid through earlier this (Tuesday) morning and there is now some cooler air around.”

Fleegel said temperatures have dipped into the mid to upper 80s and will likely stay there for the next seven days. While that sounds like a dramatic change, Fleegel pointed out that this is less of a cooling trend, per se, and more of that return to normalcy.

“Our average is 85 degrees so we should be at or near average for the next several days,” she said.

The next chance for rain will likely come Thursday. Fleegel said some areas will see a quarter on an inch of precipitation while, in keeping with hit-or-miss patterns of summer rainfall, other areas may not see any at all.

Forecasters are predicting an equal chance that this area’s temperatures for the month of August will be above or below normal; there is a slight chance rainfall will be slightly below normal for this time of year.

The weather forecast for today calls for a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3p.m. Otherwise, expect partly cloudy skies with a high near 86 degrees. The chance of precipitation is 20 percent.

Tonight, expect a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 10p.m. Skies will be partly cloudy, with a low temperature near around 64 degrees. Again, the chance of precipitation is 20 percent.

Thursday, the forecast calls for a 40 percent chance of rain, Fleegel said. Temperatures will be near 88 degrees.

On Friday: the chance of showers and thunderstorms continues. Skies will be mostly cloudy, with a high temperature near 84 degrees. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent.

Saturday’s forecast calls for a chance of showers and thunderstorms and partly cloudy skies with a high near 84 degrees.

On Sunday, expect partly cloudy, with a high near 84 degrees. The mercury will rise a couple of degrees Monday under continued partly cloud skies.