Residents to get a break from high temperatures Wednesday

Metro-east residents on Wednesday will get a break from the extreme heat that baked the area earlier in the week.

The high will reach only 85 under sunny skies, according to the National Weather Service. That’s six degrees cooler than the average high temperature for July 15 in the St. Louis area and 11 degrees cooler than the high temperature on Tuesday.

Overnight, skies will become partly cloudy and the low will drop down to 68.

A 20 percent chance of thunderstorms will move into the area during the early morning hours Thursday. The best chance of rain is between 1 a.m. and 1 p.m. The high temperature will reach 88.

Skies will be partly cloudy Thursday night with a low of 74.

The mercury will begin to climb Friday with a high of 93 expected under mostly sunny skies. The low will be 75 under partly cloudy skies Friday night.

Temperatures will again become extremely hot over the weekend with a high of 94 Saturday and a high of 96 on Sunday under sunny skies both days.

Click here to see the detailed local forecast.

This story was originally published July 15, 2015 at 6:47 AM with the headline "Residents to get a break from high temperatures Wednesday."