Weather Eye: We have returned to close-to-seasonal temperatures

The weather this year is a little on the crazy side. Each month seems to have behaved more like another month than what is more typical. Take July so far: You would think after all that unusual heat in June that July would be another scorcher.

Not so. In fact, we have not even reached 90 degrees officially this month here in Vancouver. The best we could do is 88 degrees. We have had four days when the high temperature didn’t even make it out of the 70s.

Still, we are running about three degrees above average in terms of overall mean temperature.

This upcoming week will be no different, with highs mostly in the 80s and maybe only 70s on Thursday.

The hot high pressure is in the desert Southwest, while there is a huge area of cold low pressure out in the Gulf of Alaska. We are between them, with temperatures pretty close to seasonal normals — a little above, but not too hot. The low is too far offshore to bring much in the way of clouds and rain.

Bottom line for weather forecasters is that neither soaking rains nor excessive heat is heading our way.

The garden continues to grow at a fast pace. I’ve had reports of ripe tomatoes, cucumbers and beans — nature’s bounty due to the nurturing weather.

Would you believe that last year, we had to wait until June 12 to reach our first 80-degree day? And on that day in 2020, we had logged only two days with high temperatures of 90 degrees or more?

The dog days of summer are upon us until Aug. 11. It is the warmest period of the year.

The ancient Romans thought that our brightest nighttime star, Sirius — the Dog Star — actually added heat to the Earth. They coined the phrase “dies caniculares,” or dog days. Eventually, the period of July 3 through Aug. 11 became known as the dog days of summer.

Don’t think about the fact that we are losing a couple minutes of daylight each day. Nope. Enjoy the season.

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