Sizzling in the Summer

July is done and what a month. Great weather if not perhaps a tad heavy on the heat. I did not break the century mark but I did manage to bust out nearly a dozen days in the nineties and that's just about a whole year's worth in one month. July 2018 was almost completely dry and warmer than typical with a couple of days in the upper 90s.

The area saw mostly sunshine and warm temps with just two days exhibiting any precipitation all of which was isolated and very light.

It was a glorious July, a touch too warm for me perhaps, but well within the range of perfection for summertime.

Temps were in fact quite toasty with my station reporting a daily average high of 85.16° a full five degrees warmer than my 17 year "normal" of 80.20°. The overnight lows average in at 57.82° which is nearly two above my "normal". The hottest temperature I recorded last month was a 97.3° on the 29th which was one of two days at 97 plus the other was the 15th. The 97° mark on the 15th was a local daily record for my station. The warmest overnight low came on the evening following the first 97° day with a balmy 64° the morning of the 16th. I measured 11 days at or above 90° and all but two days managed to get above 70°. There was a rogue overnight low in the chilly 40s when the merc dipped to 46° on the 3rd, of course that was the only sub-fifty of the month. The coolest daytime high was the 2nd when I topped out at 67.8°. On both of the days I recorded 97° plus other local areas saw temps tickling the triple digits. Never trust those bank signs sitting in the sun, but the National Weather Service knows how to properly place equipment and they had at least a couple of 100° marks in and around the metro area.

There isn't much to report on the precipitation side of the equation. I measured a total of 0.09 inches. I had a misty drizzle on the 2nd of July and a brief thunderclap with a short rain on the 9th. That's all there is on rain folks, and I like me a good dry July. The "Dog Days" of summer should be free of any annoying sky water, right? 

August is starting out a bit cooler than July ended and I don't mind at all after that toasty month in the rear view mirror. In fact, we may get some showery weather late this week or early next week and that will help wet the forests and repel some of that summer fire danger. A little bit of well timed rain can be a blessing, even in the summer.

On a rain note, we are running quite light this year on rain. Some may like that but I do not. This local eco-system benefits from the consistent rainfall and cloud cover so I'd love to see a nice soggy autumn this year. A little summer shower can take the edge of the fire danger as well. One need only look east of the Cascades or down south in southern Oregon and California to see how bad fires can be when things get too dry for too long.

The year to date rain chart sums up our lack of precip well.

Whatever you do rain or shine, hot of cold, be sure to soak it up my friends, soak it up.

Hot August Nights?

July is in the books and it was for all intents and purposes: spot on average. With a average daily high of 81 and a average daily low of 55, I was one over by day and one under by night. Rainfall was a big fat zero and that is well below the historical "normal" of 1.02 inches. By no means however, is a bone dry July unusual.

July was just wonderful in every measurable way as far as weather is concerned.

As for the temps I recorded a monthly high of 90.1° that came yesterday and was the only temp in July above 90°. Every single day last month busted out over the top of seventy degrees and the chilliest afternoon was the 7th when 70.7 was the best she muster. So I had 19 delicious summer days between 80-90 degrees. I have said it before and I'll say it again, summers in the Metro Portland-Vancouver area are as good as any on this planet. I did have a three quasi-chilly morning lows where the mercury dipped into the upper 40s the coolest of which was a 48.9° recorded on the 11th of July. The warmest overnight low was a balmy 62.8° on the 23rd which was the only overnight low that remained above 60°.

There was no rain in the month of July so I have no stats for precipitation. July and August are typically the driest months of the year and it is not unusual to have a blank slate on precipitation during either month. It would be unusual to have both July and August bone dry in the same year. We shall see if that happens this year.

August is starting off with the furnace set to Venus levels. Today is expected to tease the century mark and both tomorrow and Thursday are forecast to bust well above 100°. Friday is another wild card that with tickle the triple digits. If all four days break one hundred degrees it will be a first for me in 16 years of observations at this station. Just to be clear, I have never recorded more than two 100° plus temps in a row. I have yet to record a dozen 100° marks in that 16 year period. We may get four this week! If I were betting on it, I'd say we get two of the four. We shall see it all begins later today. The NWS has already backed the high forecast for today at PDX down to 99° from the 100° they predicted in yesterday's forecast.

One interesting thing I see is the Wednesday evening low forecast at 71°. That is a 'Hot August Night'. My all time record for overnight lows was set back on July 22nd, 2006 when I recorded a low of 73°. That low came after a rare day of clouds and upper 90s and the cloud cover kept the heat in all night long. We are not expected to see so much as a whiff of cloud cover so I think that record is probably safe.

Get ready for the heatwave and go a head and soak it up my friends, at beach if need be, but soak it up.

June is Gone and Summer has Arrived!

The first official day of summer has come and gone and so has the month of June. Here in the Northwest June is tends to be a spring month, not a summer month. June did bring with it some very summery weather including the hottest day I have recorded since the all time record high was set back in July of 2009. That was also the first triple digit heat I have recorded in nearly two years, the last time was, July 30th, 2015.

After a cooler than average trend that began in December last year and continued through last month, June emerged a tad warmer than average and a touch on the dry side as well.

June produced two days in excess of 90° at my location including that scorcher on the 25th when the mercury when stratospheric at 103.6°. That toasty warm daytime high was helped by a relatively warm overnight low of 63.1°. That was the warmest overnight low of the year. Despite the blistering heat mark set last month June was not without its chilly moments. True to form, the late spring weather did produce four nights in the 40s including the chilliest night on the 5th when the bottom came at 43°. The coldest daytime high arrived on the 12th when I failed to reach 60° for the first of two sub 60s in a row. The 12th was 58.1° followed by a crisp 59.4° on the 13th. June gave us 17 days above 70°, seven of which busted out over 80°, two days above 90°, and the aforementioned single day above 100°.

Rainfall came in light of my 16 year "normal" but well within typical June fluctuations. The bucket caught 1.46 inches of rain. June had some scattered thunderstorm activity that probably pushed nearby stations well above 2 inches, but my station seemed to avoid those downpours this time 'round. The soggiest day came on the 15th when I saw 0.51 inches and that was one of just two days where I recorded more than 1/4 inch.

The ever so fickle, Miss Spring was in control of June with bouts of both chilly and hot weather. We enjoyed a delicious 16 days of sunshine against just 8 days of rain, most of which was drizzly in nature. Heading into July it looks like we will have rather typical summer weather for the next several days. The NWS in Portland has this forecast this morning.



The metro Portland-Vancouver region enjoys some of the best summer weather on this planet. Temps don't like to get above ninety much and triple digits are worthy of front page headlines. We simply bask in mildly warm, mostly sunny days for the next 75 days or so.

Summer has arrived so soak it up my friends, soak it up.

April Roller Coaster

The month of April has moved to the history file and what a roller coaster ride it was. We had a sub-par rain month and fairly average daytime highs save for two monster spikes into the hot, even for July, category.

May will start out with a nice summer-like warm day into the 80s. The week begins with some July love but quickly will turn back to spring showers and some minor t-boomers later in the week.

As for April how about those heat waves. Seriously, a heat wave in April is not unusual but notable, but two heat waves in April, WOW! Daily records were falling like autumn leaves this past month.

The high for the month came on the 18th with a personal all time April mark of 91.6 and that appears to have been the all time April mark for the 'Couv' dating back to the 19th century! That was the only 90 plus mark for the month, of course. That 91.6 came second in a series of four consecutive days above 80 degrees. That was second group of 80 plus days the first group a back to back pair on the 7th and 8th with a near 90 mark of 88.7 on the 7th. 2016 begins rather ominously as last year was a record for 90 plus days in many Greater Portland Metro communities. I had 18 90 'plussers' last year about double my local average. The first of those 18 came in June and this year I have one logged already in April. Oh boy. The warmest overnight low did not follow the hot 91.6 day, but came on the morning of the 20th with a mark of 50.9 degrees.

On the chilly side of the month there isn't much to report. In fact not a single morning was below the ice making mark. The coolest came on the morning of the 16th with a chilly but not at all uncommon 36.3 degrees one of just four mornings that managed to chill into the 30s. Every single day in the month of April was able to warm above the 50 degree comfort mark with the chilliest afternoon the 14th hitting 51.6 degrees.

Overall April 2016 was much warmer than average. the observed average low was a hefty 3.5 degrees above my established norms and the observed highs were a crazy 7 degrees warmer than average thanks to not one, but two heat waves.

Rainfall was well under normal for me with a dry 2.21 inches in the bucket against my more typical 4.24 inches. We had a few days with thunderstorms and some localized heavy rain was present. That should create wide variances in rainfall totals at local weather stations. The rain for the year has been solid with a four month start of 20.58 inches and a season to date (Oct, 2015 to date) of a dripping wet 49.66 inches. Holy soggy soil Batman, that's a whole bunch of water!

There is a heavy layer of snow on the high Cascade peaks but very little remains on the local foothills. In fact there is just one tiny little patch clinging to life on the very tip of Silver Star (4364 ft). There is a good chance that won't survive the next two days. As for late season skiing? It should be solid, Timberline lodge is reporting a May 1st base at the lodge (6000 ft) of 121 inches. Up higher the last Snow Cat data about a month ago reported over 67 FEET of snow depth at Bean's Run (7326 feet).

Let's all shout out a welcome to the merry month of May. There is a high probability that freezing weather is firmly planted in the rear view mirror and that warmer days lie ahead. May is almost as fickle as March and April so we likely won't finish this month without some noteworthy weather bumps, but the gorgeous days of summer now await on the near horizon.

The Heat is On... Again

Well over 90 degrees today and probably again tomorrow. We have had at least 20 days over 90 and even some triple digits so this summer will go down as a warm one. Fear not,  ye who prefer our cooler days, more seasonable temps are coming soon. oh go ahead and soak it up already, soak it up my friends.

Get Ready to Feel the Heat!

The National Weather service is sticking to their earlier projection for triple digit heat. As we approach the end of the week a new element has arisen. We may be treated or more aptly "subjected" to a southern style event with super hot conditions and humidity added in just for fun. NWS thinks that thunderstorms could be in the mix. It has been several years since I remember hot and muggy conditions. Get ready for a little Cajun weather my friends and always find a way to soak it up :)

90s as Summer's Final Few Days Wind Down

I hit 90 plus today and the autumnal equinox is less than three days away. This is probably the last heat wave of 2014 so I suggest you get out and soak it up my friends, soak it up.

The heat is on!

Those East winds are blowing and bringing with them high temperatures. I very well may see the hottest day of the year today. It is 95 degrees already and it's only 12:30. I have yet to record triple digit heat this year but today could be the day. Hold on to your hats or the East wind will blow it off. Today is going to sizzle like bacon on a griddle. Ouch! Be careful out there; this is the kind of weather that can overwhelm you. Drink lots of fluids and stay out of the direct sunlight. Cover up and of course don't forget to soak it up my friends, soak it up :)

April was a nice spring roller coaster ride!

I am typing this at the noon hour with a balmy 83 degrees showing on the thermometer. The weather boffins at the National Weather Service seem to think we will punch through to 90 degrees as the day wears on. 90 degrees, quick Robin, activate the remote Bat swimming pool! Yeah it's kind of like that.

Yesterday was the warmest day of the year thus far (today will top it). I measured a toasty 84.7 degrees under gloriously sunny skies and nice breeze. Yesterday was in fact the warmest April day I have ever recorded at this location; my daily temp records date back to 2002.

The numbers for April were a touch warmer than average with the average daily high temp two above at 61.5 degrees and the average daily overnight low also two above at 43.2 degrees. The warmest overnight low was also yesterday with a June-like 50.5 degrees. After April fools day we managed to hit at least 50 degrees on every single day, April Fools manged a 49.6 as the coolest day of the month. We also managed to get through April with nary a freezing mark as the coldest low temperature was 36.5 degrees on the 13th.

It seemed like we got a fair amount of rain but the gauge showed a drier than average 3.66 inches of all rain. There were numerous days with scattered thunderstorms,so I would imagine that some gauges may show an inch more than others. The wettest day was 0.87 inches on the 23rd. Overall we had 11 'sunnylicious' days and 14 days with rain.

Now we march forward with summer feeling near. May opens with a summer sonata of upper eighties and maybe the first 90 of the year. 90 this early? Holy heatwaves Batman!

The NWS issued a heat warning. although these temps are not considered "hot" by summer standards, they are near record temps for this time of year and they are concerned with a lack of acclimation to the warmth affecting people. Also they warned that the temptation to jump into a local river is unwise as the water is flowing very fast and the water temps are bitter cold as this is snow melt friends. snow is cold ;) Be careful and use that noggin to make safe decisions but by all means; get outside and soak it up my friends, soak it up.

Spring has Some Sizzle, Sometimes

Well, someone told Miss Spring she's not hot... and that just pissed her off. Yesterday was gorgeous with temps in the 70s. Today and tomorrow however, are going to roast us to toast, just like July. Forecasts are pointing to a possibility of reaching not just 80 degrees but even 90 degrees on Thursday. I am not so certain about hitting ninety, but it will be warm for sure. I don't think you need a cue from me at this point but... Soak it up my friends, soak it up.

The Last Ninety for Nine

How is that for a cryptic but quite likely accurate title for this late summer weather blog post? My station hit a toasty 89.4 degrees yesterday tickling ninety degrees but just failing to hit that "it's too darn hot" number. The official station at Pearson had 91 yesterday. Today however will be a different story. Ninety degrees will come quick and early in the afternoon and boil us all day long under a desert like blanket of big, bold, blue sky.

Either there is a Bunson burner under my temperature sensor or the NWS is right on the mark. The forecast today is for mid to upper nineties and if that pans out this will likely be the hottest day of 2013. Take that Autumn! Summer is stabbing at the fall, flailing away with all she has to give. It is that last blast of her furnace before the inevitable chill sets in next month. Today is expected to be the peak of this little heat wave and the last ninety of the year will probably fall on one of these next four days. The next time we'll see a ninety degree day most likely won't arrive until June of 2014. Nine months from now, thus "The Last Ninety for Nine" seems a fitting title :)

Our friends at the National Weather Service have this forecast along with a heat advisory for today.

Maybe this heat is just too much for you. Maybe you are secretly annoyed with Summer's attack on your long awaited season of brisk autumn breezes. Well the coast may offer you the solution. This NWS Cannon Beach forecast supports the conclusion that Coast equals Cool.

You can always play hooky and drive to the coast. Here is the situation at Cannon Beach, OR. It looks a little foggy right now (Noon) but will probably see a little clearing later on. Temps are almost always cool along the shore. This could be your last opportunity for somewhat warm weather along the Oregon Coast or SW Washington's Coast. As fall approaches the rain becomes relentless along those gorgeous cliffs. Autumn comes quickly.


Maybe the foggy coast is a little overkill on the beat the heat angle. 60's too chilly? OK Timberline Lodge could be the getaway for you! The NWS forecast for the historic Mt. Hood Lodge is 70s and sunshine.

Maybe a short drive up to Hood is just what the doctor ordered for heat expulsion. Keep in mind if you stay overnight it gets downright nippy after ten up at Timberline.



You know what do, get outside and take in the last blast of summer. If you don't fancy mid nineties then you will have to stay inside your cozy air-conditioned office until after 8pm. Of course, you could enjoy the coast or mountains one last time this summer. Either way, soak it up my friends, soak it up.

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.

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.

The Heat is On

The National Weather Service has had us under a heat advisory for the last few days and it has been toasty. Temps have been in the upper eighties and low nineties. Today, tomorrow and Tuesday are supposed to be the hottest of the the week. NWS is suggesting the temps will be in the mid-nineties with heat indexes at or above the century mark. The heat index is a measure of atmospheric conditions that effect the way we feel heat. We still have some residual moisture in the air which adds to a muggy feeling. Our low elevation adds extra "weight" as well so we will feel every bit of a 100 degrees if the mercury meets 95. If you go up to the mountains where the air is thinner you may feel less heat even if the temperature is the same. Remember just because you "feel" less hot does not mean it IS less hot. Humidity typically amplifies the effects of heat as well. We have been running at relative humidity in the 45%-60% range which gives the air a little "stickiness". Stay hydrated and minimize direct sun exposure.

Look at that forecast for Independence Day, mid eighties, that is sweet.

Stay cool these next few days and enjoy our late sunshine. Temps will remain quite warm and comfortable during our very long Northwest summer twilight and into the midnight hours. We screamed for summer, now it is here, soak it my friends, soak it up.