Boston’s seven-day heat wave will likely end Monday, but hot weather is here to stay, GBH meteorologist Dave Epstein said.

After a week of 90-degree days, including one day where temperatures reached 100, this week will cool slightly into the 80s. Some parts of the region will see thunderstorms, but it won’t be enough to cool things past the mid-80s, he said.

“Not everybody's going to get all the rain, which is not good because we are increasing the depth of the drought with all the heat and dry weather,” Epstein said. “But many of us will see some showers and storms and you could see some street flooding with the heavy rain this afternoon if you get one of those downpours.”

Tuesday and Wednesday will be partly sunny and humid, with highs in the mid-80s and overnight lows in the 60s. It may climb back into the 90s on Thursday, with another chance of showers.

Spending long periods of time outside can be dangerous in the heat, so Epstein said he’s been waking up earlier and taking advantage of slightly cooler temperatures around 5 or 6 a.m. to garden, walk his dog and spend time outdoors.

“I kind of try to use the tail end of the light early in the morning and later in the evening to do things outside,” he said. “And I think that's what we have to do to adjust. That's what they do in hotter climates.”

Some more tips to manage the heat: Covering windows with blinds or curtains can lower a home’s temperature by up to 20 degrees, said Leah Berger, senior program manager for Residential Weatherization at National Grid. The utility is part of Mass Save, a collective of the state's utilities.

Berger also suggested turning off lights when they’re not in use, and keeping appliance use to a minimum to conserve energy. And though you should keep your home at a safe temperature, resist the urge to crank the AC, she said. Even a difference of 1-3 degrees can make a difference in utility bills.

The heat wave may have been long, but it was just a few days shy of breaking Boston’s all-time longest heat wave record of nine 9 days. And while temperatures hit 100 degrees, that was slightly lower than the 104-degree record.

“That's the all-time highest temperature, back in July for 2011,” Epstein said. “So no, we haven't set any records. It's getting warmer, obviously, as the climate continues to change. But in this weather heat wave now, we didn't we didn't really set any records.”

Still, hotter-than average temperatures will remain, probably at least through the first week of August, Epstein said.

“I feel very confident that we're going to see more 90-degree days here over the next couple of weeks. We are not breaking out of this pattern yet,” Epstein said. “We are going to see more heat, more humidity, more of this similar pattern.”

The weekend heat was dangerous, both for people and for some outdoor plants weathering the drought, he said.

Over the weekend, Epstein said he noticed a rhododendron in a sorry state, with its leaves drooping down and curled inward, trying to protect itself from losing more moisture.

When conditions get especially dry, he said, the soil can become hydrophobic, repelling the water instead of absorbing it.

“If you have plants that are really looking droopy, especially anything you planted in the past year, you need to get a hose on it, like a drip hose, and put it on for a couple of hours, just at a slow trickle,” Epstein said. “Until you can sort of soften it up and moisten it up, it's not going to absorb the water.”

Next time you plant, he said, it may be smart to look into drought-tolerant plants. Though current models show New England getting more rain as the climate warms, the region can also expect more heat waves, and the rain might come in shorter, more intense spurts.

“This heat wave is weather, but as the climate changes, the odds of having more of these types of heat waves goes up,” he said. “And so plants will need to adapt. … So we have to help them out a little bit.”