Vicksburg will get a welcome break from a blistering heat wave this week, but it won’t last long.

After temperatures dip to the low 90s Tuesday and Wednesday, they are forecast to return to triple digits by the weekend. The forecast highs for Friday through early next week are all above 100 degrees.

The weeklong forecast means this will remain on track to be the hottest August in Vicksburg in at least 75 years since National Weather Service recordkeeping in Vicksburg began in 1948.

Through Aug. 14, the average daily temperature in the city for August 2023 has been 89.2 degrees. The record average for August is 85.4 degrees in 2011.

Three of the 10 hottest temperatures ever recorded in Vicksburg have been observed this month. Monday’s high of 105 degrees tied for the second-hottest day on record, surpassed only by the 106-degree high of Aug. 31, 2000, and matched by the 105 measured the following day.

Aug. 5 and Aug. 12 of this year are among seven 104-degree days that have been recorded.

Monday also marked the ninth time in 14 days this August that the temperature has surpassed 100 degrees. It was the fourth consecutive day that a daily record has been set, and the seventh time overall.

There have been 10 days this summer in which the high has been above 100 degrees, which ties 2011 for third-most. The record is 21 days in 2000, and the summer of 1954 had 18 such days.

The summer of 1954 also had 85 days above 95 degrees, and 123 days above 90, which are both records. So far in 2023, there have been 34 days above 95 degrees and 76 days above 90.

Aug. 8 is the only day so far this month when the high was below 95, although Tuesday and Wednesday are both expected to join it as a cold front dips far enough south to offer some relief. Tuesday’s high is forecast to be 92 degrees, and on Wednesday it will be 89.

No rain is expected to accompany the slightly cooler temperatures, however, which is causing another problem. No measurable rainfall has been measured in Vicksburg since .04 inches fell on July 16. Sixteen counties in South Mississippi have issued burn bans through at least the end of the month.

Warren County has not yet issued a burn ban.

Outdoor burn bans are restrictions on outdoor burning during drought or wildfire conditions. During a burn ban, anything with an open flame that produces an ember is not allowed. The County Board of Supervisors normally requests burn bans, and the Mississippi Forestry Commission approves the requests.