Austin is prepping for a sizzling end to the week, with temperatures expected to nearly hit triple digits. According to the National Weather Service, the sun will hold court in a mostly clear sky, pushing the mercury to a scorching 96 degrees this afternoon. With the north winds' gentle brush at around 5 mph, residents seeking the outdoors should prepare for the heat.
The evening reprieve will be mild, ushering in a low around 65 degrees and what might be mistakenly taken as a promise of gentle nighttime winds becoming calm as the day wanes. Wednesday heats up even further with a high near 97, and a light breeze will be shifting from calm to a subtle east southeast wind in the afternoon. These patterns, a dance of calm and breeze, give little respite from the relentless heat.
Austin's weather pattern will continue this trend through the weekend. Thursday's forecast expects mostly sunny skies with temperatures just tipping under a scalding 100 degrees. Residents enduring the night's partial cloud cover will find temperatures hovering around 71 degrees, with south-southeast wind up to 5 mph — hopefully granting some relief.
Friday heralds the forecast with similar conditions; the day is marked to shine at a high near 98 under sunny skies. While there's a slight change with a south wind intensifying, becoming 5 to 10 mph in the morning, the evening will ease back down to partly cloudy with a low around 74. Come Saturday, it's back to mostly sunny and hot, with the winds picking up and perhaps gusting as high as 25 mph while creeping toward those nearly triple-digit temperatures once again.
But it's not all dry heat and cloudless days ahead. Sunday introduces a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms into the mix, coupled with a high near 98. The possibility of precipitation into Sunday night goes up to 30 percent, and by Memorial Day, the area could see a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms amidst a mostly sunny backdrop and high near 95.
