103 degrees: Tuesday is Columbia’s hottest day (so far)

Tuesday’s temperature hit 103 degrees at the Columbia airport at 5:09 p.m., making it the hottest day so far this year.

As hot as that was, it felt hotter. The heat index – a combination of the air temperature and humidity – reached 110 at 3 p.m., said National Weather Service meteorologist Dan Miller.

The record high for the day of 105 was set in 1952 and repeated in 1986.

Some relief, slight as it may be, is in sight. The National Weather Service is forecasting a cooling trend. Temperature highs are expected to reach into the upper 90s Wednesday, the mid-90s Thursday and the lower 90s Friday. The heat index also will fall.

Rachael Myers Lowe

This story was originally published July 21, 2015 at 6:12 PM.