Don’t close up those swimming pools, tuck away that sunscreen or take out your air conditioners just yet: An oppressive heatwave is just around the corner.

Sweltering temperatures are on their way back, and are certain to evoke feelings of July, according to Mike Doll, a senior meteorologist with AccuWeather.

Doll said that Saturday is expected to be somewhat on the warm side, but the humidity will stay low.

On Sunday, temperatures are expected to skyrocket and stay high through Thursday.

“We’re expecting temperatures in our region to top out anywhere between 89 and 94 degrees,” Doll said. “We’re talking about a five-day period of temperatures that are certainly going to be well above the historical average for the early part of September.”

To give it some context, Doll said the typical average high for the first week of September is about 81 to 82.

“Looking back to the month of July, we had some shorter stretches from time to time where temperatures were either at 90 or within a few degrees of 90,” he said. “This has the potential to be the most significant heat wave of the year.”

Doll said that the official definition of a heatwave is three consecutive days of 90 degrees or above.

“Our forecast at this time is for that; with that will be an increase in humidity,” he said, adding that AccuWeather’s real feel temperatures during the warmest hours of the afternoon are expected to be between 100 to 105. “It’s going to feel more like what we think of in the middle of summer, but here we are the early part of September.”

Given that it’s a holiday weekend, Doll said people are likely going to be outdoors from time to time.

However, he advised those who are to take frequent breaks, drink plenty of water, and get into an air-conditioned building to cool off.

“A lot of people are probably heading to the shore where it’s also going to be very warm and humid,” he said. “We’ve been messaging those who are to be advised of rip currents and some rough surf at times.”

Doll said that the all-time high temperature on record in Allentown is 99, which was reached twice; once in 1953, and again in 1980.

He added that as recently as Sept. 5, 2018, the temperature reached 94, and added there are other records that were either tied or broken in 2015 and 2016 during the first week or two of September.

Certainly in recent years, we have seen sort of this extreme heat from time to time; we’ve been in this pattern,” he said. “It’s also been a wet summer too.”

Doll noted that we’re entering into a pretty lengthy dry period, where the next real chance of thunderstorms isn’t expected to arrive until next Friday.

“It’s a pattern change that is a drier pattern, and one that as the heat has been in place in the middle and southern part of the United States all summer with southwest winds, that hot air is going to be moving toward the east and eastern part of the United States,” he said. “We’ve had these bursts (before this summer), but it hasn’t been able to get anything longer than three days.”

Next week’s anticipated hot spell is expected to change that in a big way.