The Charlotte region should brace for another brutal string of hot, humid days with three-digit heat indexes and poor air quality alerts, forecasters said.
The heat index could rise into the 100- to105-degree range each afternoon from Thursday to Sunday, the National Weather Service warned on Wednesday.
Saturday could be the hottest day, with the heat index in some areas teetering around 105 degrees.
The heat index, also known as the apparent temperature, is what the temperature feels like to the human body when humidity is combined with the air temperature.
Temperatures have hit or exceeded 90 degrees for 18 of the past 25 days this month in Charlotte, according to the weather service, and the average monthly temperature is about 1.5 degrees higher than normal.
The hottest days so far this month have been July 7 and 13, when temperatures hit 95 degrees. Those records could be broken on Thursday or Friday, when afternoon temperatures could hit 96, and again on Saturday, when temperatures could hit 97.
Poor air quality may also accompany the sweltering heat. The weather service issued a "Code Orange" air quality alert for Mecklenburg and surrounding counties on Wednesday, when afternoon temperatures were expected to hit 95 degrees.
"Code Orange" indicates the air may be unhealthy to breathe for long periods of time for older adults, younger children and people with respiratory conditions such as asthma.
Forecasters said high levels of ozone were to blame for Wednesday's poor air quality.
Already this summer, Charlotte has experienced three "Code Red" air quality alerts as smoke from Canadian wildfires drifted into Charlotte, creating a visible haze across the region.
"Code Red" indicates the air quality is unhealthy for most of the population, and some members of the general public may experience health effects. "Code Purple" and "Code Maroon" are both higher on the air quality index.
