Louisville is still sweating through record-breaking temperatures, and you can expect that heat to stick around for a couple of more days.

We hit 97 degrees Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. That's the hottest temperature Louisville has seen in October since the NWS started keeping records in 1871.

The hottest October day ever previously came in 2007, when the temperature hit 93 degrees on Oct. 7 and 8. The previous hottest first day of October, meanwhile, was 100 years ago, when we hit 91 degrees on Oct. 1, 1919.

The heat is a headline, to be sure, but at this point, it's not necessarily a surprise. Louisville is just coming out of its hottest September on record, with the previous record for hottest Sept. 30 in the books falling on Monday and temperatures in the 90s occurring in each of the past four days.

That heat isn't expected to go anywhere on Wednesday and Thursday, either.

National Weather Service Louisville correspondent Mike Crow said we could break more records Wednesday, with highs in the mid to upper 90s. We'll likely dip a little bit on Thursday, with highs in the low 90s.

More coverage:Why has it been so hot lately? Part of the answer is under your feet

So that's the bad news. Now, let's break down the good news.

Make plans now, because this weekend is looking like one you'll want to spend in the sun. We're looking at a high of around 80 degrees on Friday, Crow said, and the temperature isn't expected to rise past 85 on Saturday.

"It looks like Friday and into the weekend we’ll get some relief from the heat," Crow said.

If you want to keep looking on the bright side — and hey, a little optimism is healthy when conditions are this bad — humidity levels haven't been oppressive this week, either.

Moisture in the air was relatively low for much of the day, with relative humidity hovering around 34% in the afternoon. That figure made it feel 1 or 2 degrees hotter than the actual temperature, Crow said, but we’ve seen much worse at times this summer. And the humidity isn't expected to get worse later this week.

We're not asking for more humidity, to be clear, but we could use some rain. Kentucky is in a drought right now, but Louisville could see some showers early next week. Crow said as of now, we're looking at about a 20% chance of showers Sunday, with storms a possibility, and we'll jump up to about a 30% chance Monday.

So we have that going for us, which is nice. But in the meantime, stay cool out there — or at least, give it your best shot.

Earlier:Blazing heat. No rain. Louisville is in the midst of a moderate drought

Lucas Aulbach can be reached at laulbach@courier-journal.com, 502-582-4649 or on Twitter @LucasAulbach. Support strong local journalism and subscribe: courier-journal.com/lucasa.