Near-record temperatures are forecast for Thursday into the holiday weekend when the thermometer could hit 100 degrees, and highs in the mid- to upper-90s are expected to linger until Labor Day.
Because of the soaring heat, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation issued air quality alerts for Chattanooga and most other areas of the region for Thursday, according to Kerrie Simmons, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Morristown, Tennessee. The regional forecast calls for triple digits, but downtown Chattanooga might be slightly lower.
“It’s possible it could hit that, but in Chattanooga proper, it looks like 99,” Simmons said in a phone interview. “This is looking like the hottest day of the week.”
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