Category: heat

Drought worsens, but a much-needed pattern change is ahead

September 19, 2025

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Erik Proseus

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autumn, drought, forecast discussion, heat

Drought is here, and fall is coming! A pattern shift will usher in rain chances and somewhat cooler temps.
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HeatRisk: a comprehensive heat impacts scale

September 13, 2025

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Erik Proseus

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excessive heat, heat, heatrisk

Heat index, wet bulb globe temperature, and now HeatRisk… what do they mean and which is best to assess heat impacts?
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Summer’s here and the heat is on!

June 21, 2025

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Erik Proseus

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heat, summer

A cooler-than-average spring has done an about face as summer officially begins!
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Summer is in high gear; what about thunderstorm chances?

June 22, 2024

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Erik Proseus

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forecast discussion, heat, intern, summer

Several of you have commented that it seemed like a decent spring in Memphis this year turned pretty suddenly to summer about a week or so ago. Though May was a couple of degrees above average as a whole, that was mostly driven by warm overnight lows. We first hit 90 degrees on June 9…
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Summer is here! Heat, humidity, and poor air quality

June 13, 2024

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Erik Proseus

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air quality, heat, summer

An extended period of “late spring” is coming to an end. The past month has featured brief periods of hot weather, but generally with fairly moderate humidity levels. Even when we have hit 90 degrees, which has only been a couple of times, there has been no noticeable heat index. That changes this weekend. Thursday’s…
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Late-summer heat and dry weather this week; tropical update

August 20, 2023

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Erik Proseus

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heat, tropical

The wet and stormy pattern from late July through mid-August has evaporated as we head through the latter half of August. Several very comfortable days last week had most of us grateful for the arrival of #FalseFall. But a massive ridge of high pressure above us (a.k.a., a Heat Dome) will dominate a large portion…
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Typical Independence Day weather as excessive heat builds back this week

July 3, 2022

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Erik Proseus

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forecast discussion, heat

How we got here… Before we dig into the forecast, a quick recap of June. Everything was going along just dandy for the first 10 days or so of the month – near average temperatures and a few rainmakers. Then, the midsummer heat dome developed… and basically never left. The month ended as the 7th…
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Brief “cool-downs” expected over the next several days

July 17, 2018

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Erik Proseus

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forecast discussion, heat

A couple of frontal passages today and in the coming days have allowed our forecast to have a little bit more variability than a typical summertime pattern. Overall, while temperatures look to stay in the 90s throughout the foreseeable future, we will have periods of both slightly above and slightly below average temperatures, and also…
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Extreme heat & high pressure continue to dominate the Mid-South

July 12, 2018

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Erik Proseus

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forecast discussion, heat

It’s summer. It’s hot. We know it’s coming every year, but somehow it always feels worse when it does arrive. The big weather maker to highlight for the next week is in fact the heat. Heat index values are expected to climb well over 100 degrees for the rest of the week and even into…
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Excessive heat slowly gives way to increased rain chances

July 21, 2017

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Erik Proseus

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excessive heat, forecast discussion, heat

** UPDATED AT 3:00PM FOR EXTENSION OF HEAT WARNING THROUGH SATURDAY ** We’ll start this blog with a bit of “hopeful” news as we bake in the Mid-South sauna… This map by Brian Brettschneider shows the normal midpoint of summer for a given location. Here in Memphis, it’s around July 17 according to the data.…
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Heat and humidity: there’s plenty more to come

June 14, 2016

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Erik Proseus

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forecast discussion, heat

Slow-moving afternoon thunderstorms were the focus over the past few days, even as heat and humidity started to build across the region. Until today, daily high temperatures for 3-4 days had been in the mid 90s with increasing humidity since the weekend. (Average high temperatures this time of year are near 90°.) Afternoon thunderstorms helped…
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MWN Lightning Round: On heat, haze, and high-latitude auroras

June 22, 2015

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Erik Proseus

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aurora borealis, dust storm, heat, lightning round, space weather

It’s once again time for the MWN Lightning Round, in which we hit a few different topics in rapid succession and let you get on about your day, armed with insightful new information! Heat Builds as High Pressure Expands A hot day was once again tempered just a bit by thunderstorm-induced cloud cover today, although…
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Will Bill ruin weekend plans? And how hot will it get next week?

June 19, 2015

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Erik Proseus

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forecast discussion, heat, tropical

MWN meteorologist Erik Proseus discusses the effects Tropical Depression Bill will have on your weekend forecast, as well as a huge dome of high pressure that turns up the heat on the Mid-South next week, in today’s MWN Video Forecast Discussion. Tropical Depression Bill spins over northern parts of the Mid-South in afternoon visible satellite…
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Bill makes landfall – how will it affect Mid-South weather this week?

June 16, 2015

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Erik Proseus

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forecast discussion, heat, tropical

Shortly before noon, Tropical Storm Bill made landfall on the Texas coast at Matagorda Island. This was the second tropical storm of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season and the second land-falling system, following Ana which struck the U.S. near the North/South Carolina border in mid-May. Maximum wind in Bill was around 60 mph at landfall,…
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Heat Safety: A Complete Guide from MWN

June 4, 2015

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Erik Proseus

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education, excessive heat, heat, safety tips, weather-ready nation

Many Memphians are aware of, or experienced, the record-breaking heat of the summer of 1980, even though it was 35 years ago this summer. The longest streak of 90-degree temperatures in Memphis recorded history was July 25-September 16, 1980 (54 days). Just prior to that, the longest recorded streak of 100-degree days occurred, a 15-day…
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Ridge of High Pressure Overhead; Hot Week Ahead

September 9, 2013

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Erik Proseus

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forecast discussion, heat

Synopsis Clouds are hanging around this morning due to weak warm air advection above the surface. [EP: an outflow from earlier thunderstorms east of the area has sparked scattered showers in the metro late this morning, which should wane by early afternoon]. Temperatures have been above average for September [EP: the hottest day of the…
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Heat Persists through Labor Day Weekend

August 30, 2013

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Erik Proseus

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forecast discussion, heat

Synopsis After a hot and sunny work week we’ll continue to deal with Mid-South heat as a hotter than average start to meteorological fall begins this weekend. However, the overall weather pattern is certainly more interesting than the previous week, with chances for rain entering the forecast. This potentially wet weather could also bring some…
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MWN intern brings the content! “Death Ridge” Builds into the Mid-South

August 27, 2013

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Erik Proseus

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forecast discussion, heat, intern

As most of our readers know, MemphisWeather.net is staffed by yours truly (meteorologist and founder Erik Proseus) as well as social media interns who assist in nowcasting on our social media platforms and occasionally blog on local weather patterns. Currently, the interns are two Mississippi State University graduate students in Meteorology: William Churchill and Patrick…
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Late summer heat wave expected as we head towards Labor Day

August 24, 2013

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Erik Proseus

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forecast discussion, heat, holiday, summer, video

While there have been few complaints overall about the mild summer we have experienced, a heat wave will likely make us forget about the cooler temperatures as we head into the last week of August and Labor Day weekend. Below, a video forecast discussion covering the whats and whys of the heat wave, including how…
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The end of sub-90 weather and re-introducing “heat index”

June 10, 2013

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Erik Proseus

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heat, safety tips

UPDATE: As of 3:09pm, Memphis International Airport officially reached 91 degrees. Welcome to summer! Ladies and gentlemen, appearing for the first time in 276 days, please welcome back to Memphis, TN – THE 90’s!! OK, so maybe you’re not excited about it either, but today’s forecast high of 91 at Memphis Int’l Airport will officially…
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