Jun 30, 2021 2 min read

Southwestern Pennsylvania is about to get some relief from several days of scorching hot weather, but the tradeoff will be several days of rain showers into the holiday weekend.

For the past few days, temperatures often reached above 90 degrees. Though it was hot, AccuWeather senior meteorologist Bob Larson called it a “fairly standard, run of the mill heat wave” that you would expect in late June.

“It’s not near the type of heat wave they’re having in the Pacific Northwest,” Larson said.

Larson noted that while Pennsylvania’s high temperatures were not breaking any records, it may have felt that way due to high humidity.

“From a meteorologist perspective, this isn’t anything out of the ordinary … That very present combination of heat and humidity makes it that much worse,” Larson said.

When it gets this hot outside, Larson noted it is important for people to take some extra precautions.

“You have to stay hydrated,” Larson said. “Unfortunately, beer doesn’t count. We’re talking water and Gatorade.”

According to Larson, the temperature will begin to cool down Wednesday due to scattered showers, but he is not worried about any severe storms.

“It’s going to be very humid and very sticky,” Larson said.

Temperatures are expected to drop into the 70s over the course of the next couple days.

According to Larson, the rain will continue into the weekend, but it should not totally upset Independence Day celebrations.

“It’s not an all-day rain, not a washout of a weekend. You have to keep an eye to the sky and be prepared for a shower,” Larson said.