Temperatures in Western Pennsylvania remain well above average through the weekend

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The hot and dry stretch of weather that has lasted over the last couple of weeks will continue through the weekend.

Drought conditions actually do things that will help to intensify drought conditions. One of the ways we see this is through dry soil. A lack of rain obviously causes soils to lack moisture. Dry ground heats more than saturated soils. The hotter conditions due to dry soils cause us to see our evaporation rates to increase, meaning the soil dries out even faster.

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Temperatures can also be as much as five degrees hotter due to just how dry the soil is.

Yesterday was a great example of that with us popping a high of 84° on a day that really should have seen highs near 80°. Snow on the ground also does this in reverse, bringing temperatures down and causing the chance for snow to go up long-term with those conditions.

It's a vicious cycle that we are in right now and there will be no relief through the weekend. Our best shot at seeing some rain next week comes on Thursday.

For today, expect another unseasonably hot day with highs hitting the mid-80s.

I have Pittsburgh seeing a high today of 85°. We will see clouds rolling in this afternoon. Noon temperatures should be near 80 degrees with light winds coming out of the southeast.

I will continue a scattered rain chance on Saturday afternoon. I have Saturday highs hitting 84° in Pittsburgh.

Sunday highs should hit the mid to low 80s. I have Pittsburgh seeing a high of 83° on Sunday. The fall equinox begins at 8:43 a.m. on Sunday.

Heading into next week I have dropped rain chances to just isolated for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Our best rain chance for the week arrives on Thursday. I have highs next week just in the 70s but it will be just as humid if not more so than what we have seen this week.