A Break In the Heat?

This summer has been scorching, but small shifts in the mercury late this week could signal a break in summer’s strangle hold on the Lowcountry.

Today and tomorrow, you can again expect scorching temperatures, but then there could finally be a break to this summer’s unrelenting heat wave.

Meteorologists are giving a hopeful weekend forecast that includes temperatures in the low 90s.

“We could see a little downward trend in the lower 90s, if you consider that a break in the heat,” said Julie Packett, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Charleston.

It’s hardly cooler temperatures when you consider that the average high for August is in the high 80s. But even this weekend’s break could be fleeting.

“A front is moving toward the area, and we are hoping that it could bring some cooler temperatures,” Packett said. “Sometimes the fronts don’t dip down into our area, but models now are showing a downward temperature.”

Today’s high is expected to be 96 with a chance of thunderstorms. Friday, however, has a high of 92, Packett said.

If there is a break, it will signal the slow dissent into cooler fall-like temperatures. Though there will be spikes, late August is usually when slightly more tolerable temperatures break through.

The South Carolina State Climatologist lists August’s average maximum temperature at 87 degrees and September’s is 82.