Great summer weather continues on and on and on...

Our run of great weather continues. As is typical for the "dog days" of summer it doesn't look like the good news is going away either. More 70s and 80s are on tap for the next several days. We may get a hiccup in the pattern or stray thunderstorm here and there but we should be all clear for quite some time as the 75 days of our glorious summer stretch on towards the horizon.

Here is the NWS forecast:

Take a look at the USGS "Volcano Cam" up at Mount St. Helens. This is a live camera that runs year round.  It is showing nearly 80 degrees up at Johnston Ridge.  That is worth the drive to see the mighty volcano that violently erupted 32 years ago. The devastation remains today.

http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/

Want heat, go East young man, Go east

My eldest son will be attending Central Washington University this fall. I found myself in Ellensburg on Thursday for a college orientation at CWU. While the 'Couv' enjoyed temps in the upper seventies to low eighties (my station recorded 78), Ellensburg roasted in the desert dry oven with temps hovering close to 100 degrees. But hey, it's a dry heat, like that makes it OK ;) It was beautiful though with nary a cloud in the sky.

East Side of Cascades overlooking Yakima on the Way to Ellensburg

Thursday night the wife and I decided to head north to Lake Chelan. Temps were very warm up there as well. It was over 80 degrees at 10 PM. Friday we enjoyed a day at the winery and then closed out the trip with a roasty, toasty trip to Leavenworth for some German Chocolate.

The return trip over Snoqualmie pass yielded more typical 70's and 80's.  What a relief to be back on the west side with manageable summer weather that is a pure delight. Today should make it to the mid 70's which is fabulous. Get out there an soak up that summer my friends, soak it up.

This is get outside time!

This past weekend was spectacular. Saturday was mild with temps in the mid-seventies and Sunday warmed up to the mid-eighties. There was bright sunshine all around and wonderful outdoor opportunities. I took a ride over to Portland on Sunday to visit the Pittock Mansion. The view was awesome and the weather was perfect.

Our local weather professionals at the National Weather Service are indicating there will be a much of the same this week. I wrote more about the Pittock Mansion in my blog, The 'Couv' Life. Soak it up my friends, soak it up. 

It just doesn't get any better than this.

This week has been nothing short of spectacular. It was a little toasty on Tuesday with my temp hitting the upper eighties but the rest of this week has been upper seventies and low eighties. That is probably the temperature in Heaven, my friends. Our wonderful 75 days of summer are in their early weeks and the proverbial goods have been delivered. We should get more of the same for this weekend. Soak it up.

Gloriously Perfect Summer Weather

Since the Fourth of July we have been bathed in that perfect summer weather I have been blathering on about for several months now. We tend to have some morning clouds that roll in an hour or two after sunrise and hang around till noon-ish. Then the grand magnificence of our home star provides mild warmth and temps in the mid seventies to very low eighties. How sweet it is. Soak it up my friends, soak it up.

What a glorious 4th of July

The weather was perfect. There was just a little bit of low clouds from mid morning till noon and then beautiful sunshine and upper 70's for Independence day. The breezes died down late in the day and allowed for perfect fireworks conditions in America's Vancouver.

It was all hot dogs and BBQ under blue skies and sunshine, followed by thunderous booms and flashes of brilliant color across a star filled evening sky. Fantastic!

June is in the books.

June Daily Temps

Welcome to July and the beginning of our 75 days of summer, here in the 'Couv'. June began quite warm, was mostly mundane and a little drippy in the middle then finished like a new furnace. What a ride! The numbers tell of a warmer than average June with less than average rainfall, but honestly, it felt like it rained more than that. There were a number of localized squalls that poured down like a spring waterfall at times. The squalls just missed the gauge, I guess.

June Daily Precipitation

My rain bucket had a mere 1.69 inches for the month nearly an inch off the average for June. Temps were just a touch above normal both overnight and daytime.

July has started off just like June ended with high temps and a little more moisture than typical for hot days in Southwest Washington. Relative humidity has been running around 50% with temps in the high 80s to mid 90s. That puts the heat index up near 100 at times. Toasty warm for sure.

Wettest day officially at my station was 0.38 inches on the 19th. The warmest day was the last day at 92.6 and the first 90 plus day of the year. I measured 89.9 on the 28th. The highest heat index came on the 30th as well with 97 degrees. (NOAA calculation 92.6, 44% humidity). Coolest evening low was 44.4. Every day broke sixty degrees. We had twenty days of sunshine and nine days with rain.

My location tends to run a tad cooler than the official weather stations in the area. Several areas were reporting heat index values over 100 degrees. Personally I can do without high heat and our summers tend to have very few days over 90. Sit back and relax for Independence Day should be a mild eighty-five-ish. Soak it up.