After a mix of sunshine and scattered storms the last few days, hot and humid conditions are expected to continue throughout festival week in Centre County.
As the annual Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts kicks off on Wednesday in State College with its Children and Youth Day, and as Philipsburg Heritage Days begins, expect a humid day — though less so than Tuesday — with a small chance for scattered rain throughout the day, according to AccuWeather senior meteorologist Dan Pydynowski.
“… It’s going to be a relatively warm and humid day…. We’ll have highs probably around 85 [Wednesday] afternoon,” Pydynowski said. “There’s a small chance a shower or thunderstorm tries to pop up [Wednesday] afternoon, maybe like 15, 20%, but I think a lot of the day [Wednesday] ends up being dry.”
Thursday and Friday — the first two days of the Arts Festival’s Sidewalk Sale and Exhibition, as well as People’s Choice Festival in Centre Hall and Way Fruit Farm’s Art in the Orchard in Port Matilda — are expected to have higher chances of thunderstorms throughout both days, compared to the weekend.
The greatest threat for a shower or storm on Thursday and Friday will come in the afternoon, Pydynowski said.
“As we move into Thursday and Friday, it looks like thunderstorm chances are going to be on the increase again,” Pydynowski said. “[As] you would expect in this time in July, it will be warm and muggy, probably not far from 85, pretty high humidity levels, and there will be showers and thunderstorms around both days.”
Saturday will see slightly warmer temperatures with a lower chance of storms. Reaching nearly 90 degrees, It is expected to be the warmest day of the festivals.
“As we move into the weekend, Saturday may be a little warmer. Could see highs in the upper 80s and probably a smaller thunderstorm chance again, maybe back down to only 15 or 20%,” Pydynowski said. “Saturday looks like it may be a little less of a chance for that kind of activity around.”
Sunday looks to be more active with potential for showers and thunderstorms coverage, remaining relatively humid. A high of 86 is expected.
“The number one concern, obviously, with a lot of people being outdoors and various things going on, people have to be aware of the lightning and thunderstorms if they’re going to be out. If they hear thunder, they should obviously head indoors,” Pydynowski said. “People are going to be out at festivals, so having that general awareness of where a safe shelter, somewhere indoors, could be that they could access quickly in case of, not just a heavy rain, but in case there’s a lightning threat.”
