Weather Eye: Keep a sweater or hoodie in mind for fireworks Monday night

Saturday was pleasant with sunny skies and afternoon temperatures hovering around the 80-degree mark in Clark County. I was on the Long Beach Peninsula for the Fourth of July weekend and it was mostly cloudy and about 15 degrees cooler.

There was light rain and showers early in the morning but not that bad for the beach.

Another weather system slides by to our north but may bring local drizzle or light showers today from Clark County northward and along the ocean beaches. Not much, but it could be damp at times. It will be a little bit better for the Fourth on Monday with morning clouds and afternoon sunshine. Highs in the 70s.

You may have seen seven-day weather outlooks on TV with no 80-degree highs. Yep, temperatures will be near to slightly below average, so our normal start of summer heat won’t arrive July 5 this year. It has been an odd year, with lots of hot days from April to June.

We are moving out of a fairly strong El Niño pattern into a La Niña, and the last time we went through that it was a cool summer. Coincidence or whatever, no real summerlike weather the next two weeks is in the offing, according to latest forecast models.

In such an odd weather year, I don’t know if one could accurately predict how the rest of the summer would be, but it may be a repeat of past years. June was a drier, warmer than average month in Vancouver. Rainfall totaled 1.45 inches, about one-third inch below average. The average mean temperature was 64.7 degrees, 1 1/2 degrees above average.

Monday evening for the fireworks it will be dry, but you may need a sweater or hoodie after dusk as cool Northwest breezes may be in the air. Have a safe and sane Fourth of July!

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

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