With the summer season here in Iowa that usually means hotter temperatures, but this week you might have noticed it’s been muggy outside as well.

Weatherology Meteorologist Nick Carlyle explains tropical air has moved into Iowa, which is caused from what’s called an “Omega Block.” He says the Omega Block happens when the jet streams from the west and east coasts meet in the Midwest and create a holding pattern that resembles the Greek letter for Omega. Carlyle notes this weather pattern can last for 7-10 days.

“And that’s going to be pulling in that strong south easterly, southerly flow from the Gulf of Mexico and still expecting those temperatures to be in the low 90s, and it looks like those dew points still very high for this time of the year as well into the upper 60s and lower 70s. So it’s because of that blocking pattern that will eventually be breaking down here. Hopefully looks like sometime next week that we’re seeing the tropical air being funneled into the upper Midwest.”

Carlyle points out a couple of reasons why Iowa isn’t getting a higher heat index into the triple digits. 

“The cloud cover is one thing that’s kind of keeping the temperatures down a little bit. Another thing that’s kind of mitigating the heat index is the wind. Some of the winds – it looks like over the next few days – could be gusting between 15 and 20 (miles per hour). So we are expecting those heat indices values to at least be in the low to mid 90s, but nothing that’s keeping in the dangerous category.”

Carlyle doesn’t expect there to be a heat advisory while Iowans wait for a reprieve from the heat next week.