Hot days continue, humidity and rain chances increasing

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - The high heat remains this week, but as the humidity returns, so do our storm chances.

Slightly better rain chances are here this weekend.

WHAT TO EXPECT:

Temperatures fell shy of the record Wednesday afternoon, but those highs in the mid and upper 90s still made for a toasty afternoon.

Tonight is very quiet and very warm. There is not much of a breeze to stir the air up. We only fall to a low near 72° in Knoxville.

Here's the setup on Thursday: a dying storm system rolls into Ohio and Indiana. That brings them a much better chance of storms, but for us, well... We're at the tail end of all that rain and we only anticipate a couple showers and storms on the Plateau. Worth noting that the rain chance is slightly higher than it has been in recent days, and it may be even more humid. Temps will be in the middle 90s for the Valley.

Average high: 88°

Average low: 69°

LOOKING AHEAD:

The rain chance Friday is about as-good-as-it-gets for your lawn, at least this workweek. As that Midwestern storm heads into the Atlantic, we’ll get some trailing moisture causing some rain Friday afternoon. Once again, it’s still a scorcher, as many are 5°-10° above average!

Showers and storms will be on-and-off for much of Saturday, but they should be scattered enough where just under half our area gets rainfall. Sunday is more focused in the afternoon and evening, with a similar rain coverage.

Pretty much this whole forecast - and even well beyond the 8-day - is dominated by heat. There's no powerful cold front anytime soon, at least not around here.

BEN CATHEY

WVLT METEOROLOGIST