The National Weather Service has issued a Heat Advisory for much of the region as another heat wave will send temperatures into the upper 90s.
The Heat Advisory is in effect for Orange County from 11:00 am on Thursday through 8:00 pm on Friday. Hot temperatures and high humidity are expected to produce heat index values over 100 degrees are expected.
A Bermuda high pressure system will spread across the region early Thursday. High temperatures are forecast to reach 97 degrees with heat indices of 103 degrees. On Friday, temperatures are expected to reach 93 degrees amid high humidity as a slow-moving cold front approaches the area and brings a threat of thunderstorms. The forecast can be seen at Vail’s Gate Tower, a weather tower operated by The Newburgh News.
According to data collected by the weather tower, the hottest days of this year came during the previous heat wave on July 20 and July 21 when high temperatures reached 96.6 and 96.4 degrees, respectively. During that heat wave, temperatures exceeded 90 degrees for six consecutive days from July 19 through July 24. Humidity values ranged from 65% to 70% every day, creating nearly a week of heat index values exceeding 100 degrees.
The impending heat wave comes as Orange County was placed under the early stages of of a drought (story here). Vail’s Gate Tower recorded 1.7″ of rain for the entire month of July, compared to 3.772″ in July of 2021 and 4.406″ in July of 2020. There were only five days of recorded rain in July of 2022, compared to 21 days in July of 2021 and 10 days in July of 2020.
