Get ready for the best weekend of the summer

Plenty of sunshine, comfortable humidity ahead

DETROIT – Okay, okay, we’ve had other nice weekends.  But it’s the middle of summer, the Dog Days…and we’ll not only have abundant sunshine, but also relatively comfortable humidity.  The days will be warm enough for the beach, lake or pool, and the evenings will be perfectly comfortable to eat outside, have an ice tea or glass of wine on the patio, or be at Comerica Park for the Tigers-Astros series.  Just remember your sun screen for the daytime outdoor activities…the sun’s rays are still quite strong.  And be especially diligent about making sure that the kids don’t get burned.  When my kids were younger, I emphasized to them that putting on sunscreen was something we HAD to do just like putting on our seatbelts in the car.

But before getting to the weekend, let’s first deal with this afternoon and evening.  Some scattered showers popped up, as expected, with the passage of an upper level disturbance (see yesterday’s article if you want to actually SEE that disturbance, click here. Many of us didn’t get them, and those who did didn’t get enough rain to alleviate our very dry soil conditions.  Those showers will quickly diminish later this afternoon, and we should have a dry evening.  Skies will clear, and temps should drop to a low in the mid to upper 50s (13-15 degrees Celsius), with a north wind at 5 to 10 mph.  What great sleeping weather.

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Heavenly Highlight to see tonight

As long as the clouds move out on schedule, there are a couple of cool things to try and see in the nighttime sky!  First, just after it gets dark, look to the southwest for the crescent moon.  See the bright “star” just below it?  That’s the planet Jupiter!  And to the left you’ll see a bright star that really is a star…its name is Spica.

If you’ll be out between midnight and dawn Friday and Saturday nights and can watch from a dark area, face south and see if you can catch any of the Delta Aquarid meteor shower!  Now, most of the other meteor showers I tell you about during the year have a specific peak night.  You’ve no doubt heard of the Perseids (coming up in a couple of weeks), the Leonids, the Orionids, etc.  Well, the Delta Aquarids don’t have a peak…there’s just a peak time of year, and this is that time of year!  Although there are usually fewer Delta Aquarids per hour (10-15) than the other meteor showers, those that do occur are usually more spectacular.  Let me know on Twitter (@PGLocal4) if you see any.

Saturday

Saturday will be spectacular, with mostly sunny skies, comfortable humidity, and highs near or a little above 80 degrees (27-28 degrees Celsius).  And with comfortable humidity and a little north or north-northeast breeze at 8 to 13 mph, it’ll be wonderful (note…the north or north-northeast breeze will keep those of you downwind of Lake Huron cooler).  Saturday’s sunrise is at 6:23 a.m., and Saturday’s sunset is at 8:56 p.m.

Saturday night

It’ll be the perfect date night for eating at a restaurant with outdoor seating, seeing an outdoor concert, or joining me at Comerica Park.  Evening temperatures will fall through the 70s (22-26 degrees Celsius) under clear skies, with overnight lows in the low 60s (16-17 degrees Celsius).

Sunday

Sunday will also feature mostly sunny skies and, if you weren’t satisfied Saturday because didn’t get enough temperatures for your money, then you’ll be happy because highs will reach the mid 80s (30 degrees Celsius), we’ll still keep the humidity in check.  Wind will be light.

Sunday night

Clear skies once again will give you another chance to try and see any of those Aquarid Meteors (see above), with temps dropping to lows in the mid 60s (18 degrees Celsius).

When will we finally get some rain?

Mostly sunny skies will continue Monday and Tuesday, with highs in the mid 80s (30 degrees Celsius), and overnight lows in the mid to upper 60s (18-20 degrees Celsius).

The midweek cold front I’ve been telling you about all week still appears to approach either late Wednesday or overnight Wednesday night.  If the front gets close Wednesday afternoon, then perhaps we’ll see a line of thunderstorms develop…we really need those downpours.  However, if the front passes by during the night when it’s cooler and the atmosphere is more stable, then it might just be scattered showers.  At this point, the computer models haven’t come into agreement on the timing…we’ll see what transpires.  As long as the front clears the area by dawn Thursday, we’ll have partly cloudy skies Thursday into Friday.