The National Weather Service in Memphis has provided an outlook for the next several days, which suggests that while the 4th of July will be sunny with a calm wind, temperatures are expected to soar to 94°F.
During the evening, the skies will remain mostly clear, with a low around 73°F and calm east winds. According to the NWS forecast, the weekend will bring similar conditions. Particularly on Saturday, a sunny high near 96°F with a heat index as high as 102 can be anticipated, promising another scorching day for Memphis residents.
As Sunday follows, the forecast does not offer much respite; it predicts continuous sunny weather and temperatures equally high. The following night, clouds will gather, yet offer little cooling with lows remaining around 74°F. By Monday, the routine of sun and high temperatures is interrupted with a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms developing after 1 pm.
The early week weather pattern will continue to bring heat with highs nestled at 94°F, only to be disrupted by possible showers and thunderstorms. A 60 percent chance of rain is expected during mid-week, potentially providing some relief to the baked city. "Shower and thunderstorms likely," reads the National Weather Service report, with the highest probability for rain announced for Tuesday and Wednesday.
These patterns, if they hold, suggest heat will be the dominating theme, threaded with intermittent possibilities of thunderstorms in the coming days. Residents making plans for outdoors should likely consider the heat and the looming risk of storms, especially in the afternoons and evenings.
![Thomas R Machnitzki ([email protected])](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mem_10-22and23_Memphis_005.jpg){kind=link}