If you prefer snow to sweat then you might want to stay indoors today.
The National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat advisory for Saturday as temperatures are expected to soar above 100 degrees.
Because of the heat, Stafford officials canceled girls softball games that were scheduled to be played on county fields this weekend.
So why after a record-setting snowy winter are we getting such hot weather?
“The high pressure systems we are getting in overhead acts like a lid on a pot of boiling water. When you put a lid on a pot, the air can’t flow up so the rising air falls back down and is heated by the sun, and it’s not blown away by the wind,” said National Weather Service forecaster Stephen Konarik.
It’s been a hot summer in Northern Virginia. At Washington’s Regan National Airport, where the capital area’s weather records are kept, forecasters have recorded 40 days this year with temperatures of 90 degrees or above.
By this time last summer there had only been 22 days.
When spring came this year, so did a different kind of weather pattern that is much different from what we saw last winter.
During the cold months, a series of low pressure systems consistently brought storms to the region.
Many who were last winter can vividly remember some of those storms brought record snowfall.
The high pressure systems that we’ve seen this summer have a quite different effect on our weather by keeping us hot and dry, said Konarik.
As the summer days get shorter and autumn approaches, we could be in for less precipitation this winter.
“The Climate Prediction Center shows that we will have a better chance of above normal temperatures through December,” said Konarik.
To help residents deal with today’s heat, Prince William County officials have opened a drop-in cooling center for the homeless that will be open Saturday from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m.
The shelter sits near the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission’s Transit Center, off Potomac Mills Road in Woodbridge. While there, visitors can get a shower and something to eat.
County office buildings, libraries and indoor shopping centers are also good places to go to beat the heat, officials said.
