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Summer heat and humidity arrive this week

Posted at 5:23 PM, May 15, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-15 17:23:58-04

GRAND RAPIDS, MI. — If you’ve been waiting patiently for summer heat and humidity to arrive you’ll love the next few days. This week will mark the third time West Michigan will reach 80 degrees or better this season. Along with it, showers and thunderstorms are likely Monday night in to Tuesday morning. Afterwards, a warm front will lift through the state and usher in a significantly warmer, more humid air mass.

Some strong to possibly severe storms with damaging winds and/or large hail are possible along the warm front in to Tuesday morning. Once the front moves north, we’ll see dew point temperatures move from the 30s to the 60s. Recall that dew point temperatures are a measure of moisture in the atmosphere. The higher the dew point, the more moisture there is and the more humid it feels. The image associated with this story is from our computer forecast model and is valid for 6 A.M. Tuesday morning. The red line is the leading edge of the warm, moist air mass and the edge of the heat.

Below is the severe weather outlook for the overnight hours in to Tuesday morning. The outlook is issued by the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.

Once this system drags a cold front through the state later Thursday, it may trigger another round of some showers and thunderstorms, but the bigger change we’ll notice by Friday will be a sharply cooler/drier air mass. You can always get more at http://www.fox17online.com/weather. Have a pleasant week.