UPDATE: The National Weather Service has issued an Excessive Heat Warning for Friday. Temperatures will range between 90 and 100 degrees with a heat index of 110 degrees.

What is a heat index? It's when high temperatures combined with high humidity combine to make it feel hotter than it really is. Visit the National Weather Service website to learn more about heat indexes. 

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Late June will feel like late August this weekend as temperatures reach the upper 90s Thursday through Monday.

The high temperature will be 93 with sun on Thursday. Temperatures will climb to 98 Friday, 99 Saturday and 101 Sunday. Temperatures will drop back to 96 Monday and 92 Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service extended forecast.

Friday’s skies will be partly cloudy, and there is a slight chance of thunderstorms Friday afternoon, evening and overnight. Saturday and Sunday will be sunny and mostly clear.

The humidity will hover around 50 percent during the day, rising slightly overnight from Thursday through Monday.

Keeping Cool: Cooling Centers in Mount Vernon

The following cooling centers will be open this week.

Gum Springs Community Center, 703-360-6088

Sacramento Neighborhood Center, 703-619-2964

George Washington RECenter, 703-780-8894

Sherwood Regional Library, 703-765-3645

Cooling Assistance Program:

Low-income residents who need help keeping their homes cool this summer and prevent a health emergency resulting from extreme heat may be able to get assistance from a federally funded program locally administered by the county’s Department of Family Services. The Cooling Assistance program helps eligible low-income households that include at least one person considered especially vulnerable to heat, such as a child under age six, a disabled individual, or an adult age 60 or older. Cooling assistance can be used to help with:

• Payment of electric bills to operate cooling equipment.
• Payment of security deposits for electricity to operate cooling equipment.
• Repair of a central air conditioning system or heat pump.
• Purchase of a whole-house fan, including ceiling or attic fans.
• Purchase and installation of one window unit air conditioner for households where there is no unit or where the unit must be replaced.

For more information or an application form, visit the Virginia Department of Social Services or call the Fairfax County Department of Family Services at 703-324-7604. Applications can also be picked up at the DFS Office at the South County Center on Richmond Highway.

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