Weather Eye: Hot days return, but won’t stick around for long

Our current weather pattern of on-again, off-again hot weather remains, although it is wavering a little as we enter the last days of August. The warmest days this week will be Wednesday and Thursday, with highs around 90 degrees. Seems like those two days of the week have been favorites for quite some time now. Mid-week hot spells.

The remainder of the week cools as air from the north drops down. We struggle Saturday to reach 80 degrees, as it looks now. We’ll take another look on Thursday. This month has been a warmer-than-average summer month, running about 4 degrees above normal. The only moisture we had officially was .01 of an inch on Aug. 9.

A reader sent me an email noting they saw a woolly bear caterpillar over the weekend. Oh no. Is it that time of the year once again? I think we will enjoy the remaining days of summer and wait to chat about fall and winter weather when September rolls in a week from Thursday.

This month so far compares nicely to August of last year. We were about 4 degrees above average and only measured .02 of an inch of rain the entire month. We did have 101- and 103-degree highs, while this August our highest was 99 degrees on Aug. 7.

At least the past several days have been pleasant and no record-setting weather. In August, new records usually are on the hot side, so if we can bypass the record book, all is well. Harvest time is in full swing in the gardens and orchards of the Pacific Northwest. Store displays of pumpkins and scary stuff are already showing up. Leaves on some trees are beginning to tell us autumn is in the making. The average high temperatures are all downhill from here.

I have to add, did you see the gorgeous full sturgeon moon earlier this month? The exceptionally hot weather added a warm glowing color to it. This year, look for September’s full harvest moon to appear after sunset on Friday Sept. 9. With clear skies and warm temperatures that can be another beauty.

Okay, a couple hot days then we turn the thermostat down. Enjoy your week.