High temperatures to return to the 80s today throughout the Pittsburgh area

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Temperatures in the Pittsburgh area will be back in the 80s today.

Any Alert Days Ahead? Nothing at this time.  We could have a stormy day or two this weekend.

Aware: The fifth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season formed yesterday.  Ernesto is currently an intensifying tropical storm with wind speeds of 40mph.

This morning is the cut-off for data used in the weekly US Drought Monitor drought report.  The report is released on Thursday mornings at 8:30. There should be dramatic improvement when it comes to our drought-stricken areas with last week's rain falling the most right where we needed it the most.

The largest rain totals for the week by far occurred in Bedford County where radar data, over the last week, shows widespread totals of 6 inches of rain or more. Thirteen percent of Bedford County is currently under extreme drought conditions.   The only other county that is under a higher percentage of severe drought is Somerset County.

Somerset County saw most parts of the county getting at least an inch of rain with rain totals of as much as 3 inches for north-eastern parts of the county.  Unfortunately, the areas in Somerset County listed as being under extreme drought are the places where the county saw the last amount of rain.  I still expect improvements this week.

Most of Allegheny County, including Pittsburgh, saw less than an inch of rain.  Places in Northern Allegheny County saw around 3 inches of rain though.  Improvements will happen but it may not be too extreme.

Back to our forecast, today will be sunny and pleasant with low humidity levels.  Highs today should return to the 80s after we had highs in just the upper 70s over the last three days. I have Pittsburgh hitting 81 for today's high.  Winds will be light and out of the north at 5-10mph. The weather will be comfy through Thursday morning. Thursday will also be the hottest day of the week with highs expected to hit the mid-80s.

This weekend will see rain and storm chances around Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  At this point, it looks like the storm chance will be the highest on Friday afternoon.

Highs on each of these days will be in the low 80s but you'll feel the increased humidity levels as it will feel stuffy.

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