Paris Alston: You are listening to GBH's Morning Edition. It's September. We have marked the unofficial end of summer, but today it's going to feel a little more like July.

Jeremy Siegel: Humid and hot. Highs near 90. And it is just the start of what is expected this week. Here to break it down is meteorologist Dave Epstein. So, Dave, how hot is it going to get this week?

Dave Epstein: Yeah, we're going to see temperatures in the 80s to around or a little above 90. I think that Thursday and Friday are definitely the hottest of this little stretch. If I had to pick one of those two days, it's probably Thursday. Humidity is going to remain high for almost the foreseeable future. I don't see any indication that the dew points are going to drop in any perceptible way here over the next week or so. So we'll be talking about this even early next week in terms of the humidity. We're going to knock back temperatures by then, but the humidity is going to be with us probably through the first half of this month.

Alston: And this is pretty unusual for this time of year, right?

Epstein: Oh, a little bit. It's not normal in terms of like, if you look at averages, but it's not really that unusual. You know, you get the first week of September, we're still sort of in that time where Bermuda high pressure can bring in this heat and humidity. If you look back at the number of years where 90-degree weather has occurred this late in the season, it's pretty typical. Remember, averages are comprised of those years where you have a lot of warmth like we're seeing now, and other years where it's not so warm. So it's not really useful to compare the temperatures this week against average. But yeah, it's not normal, quote unquote. But it's not that unusual.

Siegel: All right. So not that unusual, but circumstances are different than they are when we have, you know, the usual super-warm temperatures of the summer. I mean, school is back in session. Not every building in schools are going to have AC. Public pools are closed for the most part. So people probably don't have a place to take a dip to cool off. Any concerns this week, you think, about the dangers of heat?

Epstein: Yeah, I mean, it's definitely — we don't have a heat advisory posted for Greater Boston. The heat advisory, the closest ones are on through the Connecticut River Valley from Springfield down through Hartford, and you get down to New York City. I'd say that, you know, it's kind of common sense. Right now, we're not seeing any-record breaking heat. So it's definitely warm, I think. You know, the thing that I would be in tune with mostly are those kids that are practicing in the afternoons. So you have things like soccer practice, you might have football practice, doing some cross-country, things like that. Just being sure as the adult in the room that the kids are drinking enough water, if someone feels kind of really tired, that they're getting in the shade, that you're letting them rest, and that you're kind of listening to what the students are saying about how they're feeling around this. A lot of kids will just kind of work their way through it. But I would say that water and taking those breaks just a little more frequently than perhaps we would if temperatures were in the 70s and 80s.

Alston: So we are looking at those kinds of temperatures and sort of as we get into the weekend, Dave, also into next week, we're looking at 70 degree weather. Is that trend going to last for quite a while?

Epstein: Yeah, I think the temperatures next week will definitely be trending back towards more average temperatures. I don't see any 90-degree weather, but that humidity is going to be with us. And I think that that's the thing that's pretty uncomfortable when you don't have air conditioning in the school systems. It just kind of gets, you know, hot, and the buildings just don't have a lot of ventilation. So, you know, again, if I were a teacher — I used to teach eighth grade — bring a fan in if they don't have one, kind of stick it in the window, get the air circulating a little bit, and that's helpful as well.

Siegel: Before we let you go, Dave, a story we've been reporting on this morning is that the state is considering adding more species to its invasive plants list, its banned plants, which Paris and I did not, at least I did not know that that was a thing, that the state says you can't have certain plants on that list now, or potentially now, will be wall lettuce and Bradford pear. Any thoughts on these and whether folks should be concerned if they have them?

Epstein: Yeah, the Bradford pear, I just, in terms of those two, I'm more familiar with that one, but I just I hate that tree. It's a terrible tree.

Siegel: Strong words, wow.

Epstein: It spreads, it's weak. It falls apart in heavy, wet snowstorms. It's just, it's a terrible tree and it should not be planted. You know, we used to have burning bush was another one that is now banned and you can't buy in the state and actually in most of New England at this point. And that's another one that just pops up everywhere. So I'm all for it.

Alston: Oh, right. Well, there you go. Take that, Bradford pear. Well, that is our meteorologist, GBH's meteorologist Dave Epstein. Thanks so much, Dave.

Epstein: You're welcome.

Siegel: And we'll have Dave on later this week to answer your questions about gardening and the forecast. So if you have them now, you can text us at 617-300-2008. I want to ask Dave what other plants he hates, so stay tuned for that later this week. You're listening to GBH News.

Labor Day has come and gone, marking the unofficial end of summer.

But summer doesn’t actually end until the end of September. And that’s evident in this week’s temperatures in the Boston area.

“We're going to see temperatures in the 80s to around or a little above 90,” GBH’s Meteorologist, Dave Epstein, told Morning Edition co-hosts Paris Alston and Jeremy Seigel Monday. “I think that Thursday and Friday are definitely the hottest of this little stretch.”

Highs will stay in the 80s and 90s through next Sunday or Monday, Epstein said, with overnight lows in the 70s. And while temperatures are expected to drop early next week, it will remain sticky.

“Humidity is going to remain high for almost the foreseeable future,” he said. “I don't see any indication that the dew points are going to drop in any perceptible way here over the next week or so.”

While temperatures are higher than average — and people are certainly aware of this summer’s record-breaking global heat — this week’s heat is not unprecedented, Epstein said.

“We're still sort of in that time where Bermuda high pressure can bring in this heat and humidity,” he said. “If you look back at the number of years where 90-degree weather has occurred this late in the season, it's pretty typical. Remember, averages are comprised of those years where you have a lot of warmth like we're seeing now, and other years where it's not so warm. So it's not really useful to compare the temperatures this week against average.”

Greater Boston is not under a heat advisory, Epstein said. Still, students going back to school in buildings without air conditioning or playing sports outside in hot afternoons may get uncomfortable.

Coaches and teachers should make sure students are drinking extra water and taking breaks when they need them, he said.

“When you don't have air conditioning in the school systems, it just kind of gets hot, and the buildings just don't have a lot of ventilation,” Epstein said. “If I were a teacher — I used to teach eighth grade — bring a fan in if they don't have one, kind of stick it in the window, get the air circulating a little bit, and that's helpful as well.”

Temperatures should pull back toward a more average range next week, he said.

“I think the temperatures next week will definitely be trending back towards more average,” he said. “I don't see any 90-degree weather, but that humidity is going to be with us.”