Stifling extreme heat in Palm Beach County will endure through the weekend, but rain could offer a hint of relief.

It's been a summer of heat advisories and roasting feels-like temperatures in the triple digits. This week's heat has been especially brutal because a plume of Saharan dust kept rain chances low. A 96-degree temperature at Donald J. Trump International Airport near West Palm Beach tied with a record high on Tuesday, Aug. 18. 

But that dust is on its way out and a rush of moisture is moving in, said Nico Porcelli, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Miami.

Matthew Spradley, Lake Worth Beach, carries a beach bucket and squints sweat from her eyes as his family prepares for a beach day near Lake Worth Beach, Fla., on June 22, 2026. Temperatures are reaching record highs across Palm Beach County to start the week. (THOMAS CORDY/PALM BEACH POST)
Matthew Spradley, Lake Worth Beach, carries a beach bucket and squints sweat from her eyes as his family prepares for a beach day near Lake Worth Beach, Fla., on June 22, 2026. Temperatures are reaching record highs across Palm Beach County to start the week. (THOMAS CORDY/PALM BEACH POST)
Eliana Ferreira, Massachusetts, leaves the beach in Lake Worth Beach, Fla., on June 22, 2026. Temperatures are reaching record highs across Palm Beach County to start the week. Ocean rescue personnel notified beachgoers that sand gets hot on their daily signage. (THOMAS CORDY/PALM BEACH POST)
Eliana Ferreira, Massachusetts, leaves the beach in Lake Worth Beach, Fla., on June 22, 2026. Temperatures are reaching record highs across Palm Beach County to start the week. Ocean rescue personnel notified beachgoers that sand gets hot on their daily signage. (THOMAS CORDY/PALM BEACH POST)
A maintenance worker at The President of Palm Beach named Steve trims the boulevard outside the condo in Palm Beach, Fla., on June 22, 2026. Temperatures are reaching record highs across Palm Beach County to start the week. "It always seems cooler on the days I'm working," he said. (THOMAS CORDY/PALM BEACH POST)
A maintenance worker at The President of Palm Beach named Steve trims the boulevard outside the condo in Palm Beach, Fla., on June 22, 2026. Temperatures are reaching record highs across Palm Beach County to start the week. "It always seems cooler on the days I'm working," he said. (THOMAS CORDY/PALM BEACH POST)
Beachgoers sit in the sunshine and under umbrellas in Lake Worth Beach, Fla., on June 22, 2026. Temperatures are reaching record highs across Palm Beach County to start the week. (THOMAS CORDY/PALM BEACH POST)
Beachgoers sit in the sunshine and under umbrellas in Lake Worth Beach, Fla., on June 22, 2026. Temperatures are reaching record highs across Palm Beach County to start the week. (THOMAS CORDY/PALM BEACH POST)
Two people ride north on a personal watercraft in the Atlantic Ocean off Lake Worth Beach, Fla., on June 22, 2026. Temperatures are reaching record highs across Palm Beach County to start the week. (THOMAS CORDY/PALM BEACH POST)
Two people ride north on a personal watercraft in the Atlantic Ocean off Lake Worth Beach, Fla., on June 22, 2026. Temperatures are reaching record highs across Palm Beach County to start the week. (THOMAS CORDY/PALM BEACH POST)
Temperatures are reaching record highs across Palm Beach County to start the week. Ocean rescue personnel notified beachgoers that sand gets hot on their daily signage in Lake Worth Beach, Fla., on June 22, 2026. (THOMAS CORDY/PALM BEACH POST)
Temperatures are reaching record highs across Palm Beach County to start the week. Ocean rescue personnel notified beachgoers that sand gets hot on their daily signage in Lake Worth Beach, Fla., on June 22, 2026. (THOMAS CORDY/PALM BEACH POST)
Matthew Spradley, Lake Worth Beach, carries a beach bucket for his family near Lake Worth Beach, Fla., on June 22, 2026. Temperatures are reaching record highs across Palm Beach County to start the week. (THOMAS CORDY/PALM BEACH POST)
Matthew Spradley, Lake Worth Beach, carries a beach bucket for his family near Lake Worth Beach, Fla., on June 22, 2026. Temperatures are reaching record highs across Palm Beach County to start the week. (THOMAS CORDY/PALM BEACH POST)
A maintenance worker at The President of Palm Beach named Steve trims the boulevard outside the condo in Palm Beach, Fla., on June 22, 2026. Temperatures are reaching record highs across Palm Beach County to start the week. "It always seems cooler on the days I'm working," he said. (THOMAS CORDY/PALM BEACH POST)
A maintenance worker at The President of Palm Beach named Steve trims the boulevard outside the condo in Palm Beach, Fla., on June 22, 2026. Temperatures are reaching record highs across Palm Beach County to start the week. "It always seems cooler on the days I'm working," he said. (THOMAS CORDY/PALM BEACH POST)

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The moisture will boost rain chances up to about 60% in Palm Beach County, with afternoon showers and thunderstorms expected every day this weekend. A cooldown could happen after storms roll through, but the storms will likely develop after temperatures have risen well into the 90s, so they wouldn't limit the peak afternoon heat. 

"Under these hot conditions, I just want to remind people to take breaks, go into the air conditioning and stay hydrated, because only a little bit out in the heat can really cause some heat illnesses," Porcelli said. 

The sun rises over the Atlantic Ocean at Midtown Beach Thursday morning June 18, 2026. (DAMON HIGGINS/PALM BEACH DAILY NEWS)
The sun rises over the Atlantic Ocean at Midtown Beach Thursday morning June 18, 2026. (DAMON HIGGINS/PALM BEACH DAILY NEWS)
The sun burns through a layer of Saharan dust shortly after sunrise in Palm Beach Wednesday, July 1, 2020. [LANNIS WATERS/palmbeachpost.com] (Lannis Waters)
The sun burns through a layer of Saharan dust shortly after sunrise in Palm Beach Wednesday, July 1, 2020. [LANNIS WATERS/palmbeachpost.com] (Lannis Waters)
The sun rises behind a layer of Saharan dust during a gray, hazy dawn in Palm Beach Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021. (Lannis Waters, (LANNIS WATERS / THE PALM BEACH)
The sun rises behind a layer of Saharan dust during a gray, hazy dawn in Palm Beach Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021. (Lannis Waters, (LANNIS WATERS / THE PALM BEACH)
West Palm Beach resident Annie Waring takes a photo of the sunrise at Midtown Beach Thursday April 23, 2026. "I try to come a couple of times a week," Waring said. (DAMON HIGGINS/PALM BEACH DAILY NEWS)
West Palm Beach resident Annie Waring takes a photo of the sunrise at Midtown Beach Thursday April 23, 2026. "I try to come a couple of times a week," Waring said. (DAMON HIGGINS/PALM BEACH DAILY NEWS)
Sunrise over Palm Beach Thursday April 2, 2020. [LANNIS WATERS/palmbeachpost.com] (Palm Beach Post)
Sunrise over Palm Beach Thursday April 2, 2020. [LANNIS WATERS/palmbeachpost.com] (Palm Beach Post)
A bicyclist rides past Midtown Beach in Palm Beach at sunrise Thursday, March 26, 2020. [LANNIS WATERS/palmbeachpost.com] (Lannis Waters, The Palm Beach Post)
A bicyclist rides past Midtown Beach in Palm Beach at sunrise Thursday, March 26, 2020. [LANNIS WATERS/palmbeachpost.com] (Lannis Waters, The Palm Beach Post)
The Royal Park Bridge opens just after sunrise to allow a luxury yacht from the Town of Palm Beach Marina pass beneath it Wednesday January 7, 2026. (DAMON HIGGINS/PALM BEACH DAILY NEWS)
The Royal Park Bridge opens just after sunrise to allow a luxury yacht from the Town of Palm Beach Marina pass beneath it Wednesday January 7, 2026. (DAMON HIGGINS/PALM BEACH DAILY NEWS)
People wait for the sunrise at Midtown Beach near the clock tower along South Ocean Boulevard and Worth Avenue March 11, 2026 in Palm Beach. (MEGHAN MCCARTHY/PALM BEACH DAILY NEWS)
People wait for the sunrise at Midtown Beach near the clock tower along South Ocean Boulevard and Worth Avenue March 11, 2026 in Palm Beach. (MEGHAN MCCARTHY/PALM BEACH DAILY NEWS)
A Saharan sunrise in Palm Beach Monday, June 29, 2020. Saharan dust is made of small particles of sand that have traveled from the Sahara Desert in Northern Africa. Each year, hundreds of millions of tons of soil is lifted by convection over hot desert areas, and can then be transported across the ocean by winds. [LANNIS WATERS/palmbeachpost.com] (THE PALM BEACH POST)
A Saharan sunrise in Palm Beach Monday, June 29, 2020. Saharan dust is made of small particles of sand that have traveled from the Sahara Desert in Northern Africa. Each year, hundreds of millions of tons of soil is lifted by convection over hot desert areas, and can then be transported across the ocean by winds. [LANNIS WATERS/palmbeachpost.com] (THE PALM BEACH POST)

The maximum heat index, or "feels-like," temperature could reach 112 degrees in West Palm Beach on Friday, Aug. 21. It steadily drops to 110 degrees on Saturday, Aug. 22, and to 109 degrees on Sunday, Aug. 23. The high temperature in West Palm Beach projected to be 93 degrees each day this weekend, when more heat advisories are likely.

This summer has the second-highest number of heat advisories in South Florida that the weather service has issued. It is rivaled only by the summer of 2024. This summer is already on track to at least match its number of heat advisories, Porcelli said. 

During a heat advisory, the weather service recommends that people limit strenuous activities outdoors during the peak heat of the day, stay hydrated, take care of pets and stay in air conditioning when they can. A heat advisory is triggered when there is a heat index of at least 108 degrees for two consecutive hours.

Yes. South Florida is still in a drought, which has persisted in at least some parts of the region during the entire year. This summer has had a more than usual amount of Saharan dust, which has kept the weather dry for several longer stretches. 

"Certainly, any little bit of rain helps the drought, but it's going to take a big event, maybe even like a tropical system, to really put a dent in that drought," Porcelli said. "Right now, we're still seeing severe drought, particularly mostly along the Everglades."

Maya Washburn is a Trending News Reporter for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida-Network. Reach her at [email protected]. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Rain, thunderstorms set to return amid triple-digit heat this weekend