Sunday was a hot one for sure and by reaching 100 degrees, we broke the old record of 99 degrees set in 1998. Did it feel as hot as that to you? Afternoon humidity was down to 13 percent which is quite unusual for us, more of a desert feeling. The dry air helped somewhat to make it more tolerable.
Monday’s heat, which was also forecast to reach near 100 degrees, was expected to be with higher humidity so I bet it felt warmer and maybe even a little muggy. Clouds associated with unstable air from California were streaming up the Willamette Valley and increasing the chance of thunderstorms over the Cascades. We don’t need lightning with this dry and hot air mass.
The good news is that we are through with the really hot stuff for a while with highs in the 85 to 90-degree range today and Wednesday. Then we ease out of the 80s on Friday as moist unstable air once again streams up from the south. That could produce a shower or thunderstorm locally, but we’ll review that possibility in Thursday’s column.
The weekend looks like pleasant weather with some clouds and highs close to the 82-degree average for this time of the year. Back in 2009 at this date in time, we were in the midst of a record heat wave with several days at or over 100 degrees. After 103 degrees the day before, on July 29 we hit 107 degrees, the record highest for Vancouver. Even relatively cooler Seattle made headlines with a high of 103 degrees, their all-time high. Let’s be glad this hot spell was short-lived.
