No surprise: Heat Advisory issued for this weekend

Last year, the highest recorded temperature at Cape Girardeau was 98°F. We've already reached 97°F three times (on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday) and it's not even officially summer yet.

The heat and humidity will continue this weekend and into next week. There's no question the heat index will hit 100, but it could easily surpass 110 over the weekend. As a result, the National Weather Service in Paducah has issued a Heat Advisory through Sunday. It's quite possible that this advisory will be upgraded to an Excessive Heat Warning as we enter next week.

This graphic shows the heat index projection for Monday. It's not pretty:

Longer-range forecasts show this ugly weather pattern continuing. As the Paducah office dryly states in today's forecast discussion, "Could be quite a heat wave going into summer."

While we continue to bake, heavy rains are forecasted for Iowa. It's been a wet spring to the north and west, pushing the Mississippi, Missouri, and other rivers above flood stage in many places. It's only going to get worse, with massive quantities of rain (5-8 inches) expected over Iowa during the next 5 days:

The river at Cape is expected to rise to 36 feet by Monday. While this isn't particularly bad, the ongoing weather pattern -- dry and hot in Southeast Missouri, heavy rain over Iowa -- is eerily reminiscent of the weather during 1993. And we all know what happened that summer!