The Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science at Penn State.

This is Weather World.

Good evening Pennsylvania.

Today is June 26th, 2026.

Welcome to Weather World.

I'm your host, Leonard Elmhirst, joined alongside by Rob Lydick and Rob.

Certainly the past 24 hours we've had here in State College, strong thunderstorms moving through but looking a lot clearer right now.

Earlier today.

Yeah, we had some good gully washers across central Pennsylvania last evening, some places picking up more than an inch in the gauge.

Mainly dry out there today, but more rain chances are on the way as we go into the beginning of the weekend.

Certainly sounds like it.

We'll get to that here shortly in your forecast, but for the rest of us here on Weather World today, we have our Friday forecast frenzy with the extended forecast by Van Riper and week two trends by Giannis.

But first here's Rob and thanks very much, Landon.

Let's start with a recap of some of the rain that moved through last evening.

Some of those storms a bit frisky, producing some gusty winds and small hail.

The big story with some heavy rainfall that moved through central Pennsylvania.

As we went through last evening, I mentioned gully washers while in the gauge here this morning.

Landon actually took the observation here at the Walker building, 1.4in in our gauge in some places, picking up anywhere between an inch to an inch and a half, right across the central mountains over towards the Poconos as well.

Not getting in on the action across southeast Pennsylvania, where they still really need the rainfall.

But I think we'll add to those rain chances as we go into this weekend, especially tomorrow, as an area of low pressure begins to skirt closer here to the Keystone State, where we had the rain last evening, started off on a foggy note in Mercer County this morning.

Eventually that fog burned off.

As we went through the mid-morning.

We saw some cumulus clouds overhead this afternoon, a few breaks of sunshine now clouding back up as we see more rain chances beginning to build just off to our west.

And I think we'll be watching the arrival of some of those showers in western Pennsylvania later on this evening.

Here's a look at the satellite and radar picture.

Some of the echoes you see here across southwestern Pennsylvania.

The rain not quite making it to the ground yet, but I think we'll eventually see some of the showers move in as we go through the next couple of hours.

Best chance will be this evening in the West holding off until after midnight, I think in eastern Pennsylvania, as this whole storm system continues to nudge its way eastward temperature wise, we saw temperatures in the low 70s to low 80s today, about 5 to 10 degrees below average for this time of year.

I think we'll hold that trend as we go, at least into the first half of the weekend, before we're a bit more seasonable come Sunday.

Dew points were in the mid 60s, where it was on the slightly sticky side across southern Pennsylvania.

Today.

I think we'll hold that to be true as we start the weekend off tomorrow.

Eventually a bit more comfortable across the north as we go into Sunday of this weekend.

Widening out the view.

Temperatures have mainly been held back in the 60s and 70s, with some of the rain in the Midwest.

Today, all the heat still situated across the southern Plains.

108.

Not that uncommon for this time of year out in Phoenix.

What is uncommon?

Some chill actually.

Across the Pacific Northwest, where temperatures have struggled to make it out of the 60s in places like Seattle and Medford.

After some heat earlier this week, those 60s are here to stay all the way through the weekend.

On the satellite radar picture across the country, we see this storm system, a lot of unsettled weather across the Midwest that will be tracking its way eastward.

And I think that will spell unsettled start to our weekend here as we watch this area of low pressure move through the Midwest tonight, and eventually boundary kind of stalls right over Pennsylvania tomorrow.

The best chance for rain throughout the day, I think will be in areas south of I-80.

If you're north of I-80, I think we'll even see some clearing late in the day drying out during the afternoon, at least as we go into the second half of the weekend.

We can't rule out a shower or two, especially south of the PA Turnpike, but I think Sunday will be the pick of the weekend.

It should be brighter and warmer for all of us as we see this area of low pressure slowly drift off to our south.

So putting this into our forecast for tonight, we'll call it increasingly unsettled.

Temperatures will be in the mid 50s in the cool spots, upper 60s off to the south and east, clouds hanging tough with some scattered rain and a few rumbles arriving by this evening in the west.

Eventually after midnight in the east.

And just a light and variable breeze as we go through the overnight on Saturday, we'll call it a soggy Saturday, especially south of I-80.

Some mainly morning showers north of I-80, a few breaks of sunshine late in the day there.

Otherwise, look for off and on rounds of rain and rumbles in central and southern Pennsylvania, where will be muggy and damp temperatures held back a bit as well.

We're talking highs in the upper 60s to upper 70s, so still about 5 to 10 degrees below average for this time of year.

Feeling a little bit more like spring than summer.

But then it starts to feel more summer like on Sunday, temperatures in the mid 70s to mid 80s.

We should see some patchy morning fog give way to some more sunshine as we head into the afternoon.

The exception may be southern areas.

Clouds may hang a bit tougher there with some spotty rain showers heading into the afternoon and evening.

The extended forecast is up next.

Well, the warming trend that gets underway as early as Sunday will evolve into a full blown hot spell as we get into next week and from especially Wednesday and beyond.

We could also be talking about some dangerous heat.

We'll show you how this comes about.

First, by looking at the water vapor imagery over the past couple of days and these eruptions of thunderstorms off to our west, you can see them almost rotating around a central point.

That central point is a big upper air high pressure system currently developing over South Texas.

By the time our extended forecast period begins on Monday, here it is.

This big upper level ridge of high pressure.

And those thunderstorm complexes, they tend to develop at the crests of these ridges and then ride the jet stream as this ridge really flexes its muscles.

As we get into next week and moves eastward, that's pretty much going to eliminate the opportunity for any showers and thunderstorms of a meaningful variety.

In a pattern like this.

This ridge really intensifies Wednesday into Thursday.

I think that's the peak of this heat.

There are signs that by Friday, this ridge might start contracting again and heading westward or retrograding.

If that happens, that would then allow us to get into more of the storm zone by the very end of the week.

And by that point, I think we are certainly going to use or need some rain.

In addition to temperatures heading up next week, the humidity will as well.

Not so much on Monday.

Dew points probably still relatively comfortable, maybe only in the 60s on Monday.

By Tuesday, dew points start rising, particularly in western Pennsylvania.

And then by the time we get to Wednesday, oh boy, the oranges take over dew points, likely well into the 70s starting on Wednesday.

And that should hold true as well.

By the time we get to both Thursday and on Friday, even if the temperatures start ticking down a bit by Friday, the humidity at that point will still be high.

That means any showers and thunderstorms that can develop, especially later next week, downpours and maybe some flooding downpours would be the primary risk.

But again, I don't think there are too many thunderstorms as we go through next week.

Plenty of heat though.

You can bind the dangerous heat and the humidity.

Some feels like values.

Next week could end up well over 100 again.

Monday is not so bad.

Feels like values for most of Pennsylvania, probably in the 80s to around 90.

Tuesday probably 90s, and then Wednesday, Thursday, Friday at least most of our guidance right now.

And this is valid for Harrisburg, but the general theme here applies to most places.

We could have three days in a row Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, where those feels like values could be over 100 and maybe even well over 100.

So this is that dangerous kind of heat.

You want to make sure you are remembering all of your hot weather safety tips, checking on the elderly, the kids and the pets, and doing what you can to stay cool.

So Monday, it's a warm day and only a bit sticky.

Still low 80s to low 90s.

Tuesday mid 80s to mid 90s.

But then here we go.

Hazy, hot and humid.

The nights are going to be warm too.

By Wednesday 90 to 100 should do it on the high side.

Some areas Thursday could be in the low one hundreds.

By Friday, those temperatures might start to edge down just a little bit, but certainly still plenty hot.

Just an isolated afternoon thunderstorm in a few spots Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.

Most of us stay dry.

More of us with the opportunity for a storm by Friday.

Does the heat continue into week two?

John will tell us next.

Week.

Two trends as always, our last forecast segment of the week focuses on the 8 to 14 day period.

Thus the name week two trends.

And by trends we mean we're looking for weather.

Temperatures will be above or below average.

And are there any enhanced risks of precipitation during this period?

Precipitation is particularly difficult during the summer, when rainfall is dominated by thunderstorm complexes, which are always hard to track in the extended range.

Temperatures a little easier, and I think I'll have something to say about that, especially next weekend with respect to temperature.

If we're going to try to gauge whether temperatures will be above or below average, it helps to know what the averages will be.

And this is right in the middle of that 8 to 14 day period.

These numbers are now within about a degree of the climatological maximum.

They will change very, very slowly over the next 4 to 6 weeks.

This is what we're gauging when we say temperatures being above or below average.

The technique we use here is called ensemble forecasting.

We're going to show you the solutions from about 30 different computer model simulations.

This is pressure up around 30,000 20,000ft.

The wind tends to follow these lines from west to east, where they bulge to the northeast.

Ridges tend to sponsor relatively warm air at high altitudes, and where they dip to the southeast, troughs tend to be associated with inclement weather, rainy weather, and cooler than average temperatures below average.

Notice that there are actually three different red lines there, but because we're just tweaking the initial values just a smidge, they look very close.

By the time we get to the middle of next week.

You've heard from Ben the ridge building in the east, the warmth.

By the time we get to the start of my period, the seat of the heat has has moved westward and we're kind of in a northwesterly flow.

But I'm going to keep us with temperatures above average next weekend, particularly on Saturday.

Eventually, this dip that you see represents cooler ocean air trying to back into Pennsylvania.

And I think that will take hold for the bulk of the week two period.

Thus, the dip in these lines in the east and the seat of the heat is out west.

And that pattern really holds through week two, we get into this northwesterly flow aloft, which tends to be a relatively dry flow when it comes to delivering moisture.

And so even though I'm not going to have much color on the precipitation line of our week two trends tracker, which I'm going to show you right now, the general pattern does favor or does not favor big rainstorms during the remainder of week two.

I do think we have an enhanced risk of getting some showers and thunderstorms next weekend, particularly Saturday, as that cooler air tries to back in from the ocean.

But I'm still going to keep temperatures on the warm side at least the first half of Sunday, and particularly in the western part of the Commonwealth.

So we're going to temper the heat.

But I do think at low levels, typical July humidity is going to linger.

And with that front near by at the start, I'll put those showers and then we hit a drier northwest flow.

That's it for week two trends.

Back in a moment with more.

Some unsettled weather is on the way as we go through this evening.

Arriving in the West.

First, I think over the next couple of hours, some scattered rain and a few rumbles will be possible, holding off until after midnight in eastern areas where it will be somewhat humid, especially across the south.

Temperatures in the mid 50s to upper 60s overnight, with just a light and variable breeze.

As we go into the day on Saturday, the more unsettled of the two weekend days, we'll see some morning rain showers north of I 80.

Drying out a bit more as we go into the afternoon and evening there with a few breaks of sunshine possible late elsewhere south of I 80 off and on.

Rain and rumbles throughout the day, where will be muggy and damp and temperatures mainly in the 70s for daytime highs on Sunday.

After some patchy morning fog, I think it will be the pick of the weekend.

Some brighter skies heading into the afternoon will be warmer as well.

Temperatures mid 70s to mid 80s.

Some spotty rain chances are there, especially south of the turnpike going into the afternoon and evening.

But all in all I think it looks to be a drier day compared to our Saturday.

So might be the day to get outside.

As you look at some weekend plans, look forward to a good weekend.

I really do appreciate your forecast here tonight, Rob.

That's all from us here at Weather World Tonight.

Next week we will have a feature on our weekly segment of Hashtag headlines and the history of the weather camp we hold here at Penn State.

For all of us here at Weather World.

Have a good evening.