Weather Eye: Vancouver’s hot streak ends; pleasant weather on tap

Vancouver’s streak of 90-degree days ended Tuesday, which had a high of 87 degrees. I still managed 90 degrees in Salmon Creek. At the time of this writing, Vancouver was only in the mid-80s on Wednesday.

The cooling trend continues today and will last through Tuesday of next week. Highs will slip down to seasonal normals and bounce around the 80 degree mark depending on sky conditions. We will see morning clouds and afternoon sunshine on some days, just like we should have back in June!

Some moisture may be squeezed out of the clouds for a few showers, mainly over the Cascades and along the coast strip. There’s a chance of thunder and lightning strikes over the Cascades and east side. Some heavy rainfall may accompany the thunderstorm, which is excellent news.

And with more cloud cover, cooler temperatures and higher humidity, the fire weather will be reduced for several days at least. Still, be cautious with any fires that are still allowed. Many backyard and recreational campfires are prohibited due to the extreme dry conditions.

Indications are that higher pressure rebuilds midweek next week and temperatures may rise once again to the mid-80s. No extreme heat is forecast for our area in the next ten days or so. But stay tuned because nature always has a way of fooling us.

June was definitely the warmest June on record for much of Washington. July this year is off to a hot start as well. The warmest July on record for Washington was in 1985. It was the hottest month on record for the Evergreen state in the past 100 years. The average statewide mean temperature was 69 degrees which was 4.9 degrees above average.

The drought index worsened statewide in June with most of Clark County in a moderate drought except for the far western areas of the county which are in an abnormally dry category. With a prediction of the next three months having above average temperatures and little rainfall, it can only get worse.

We’ll chat on Sunday.

Patrick Timm is a local weather specialist. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. http://patricktimm.com