The warmth is back with us and so is the humidity. Moisture from earlier in the week and infiltration of southerly flow aloft and weak onshore air will keep our dew points higher than average. The overnight lows the next two nights will be on the warm side.
The National Weather Service in Portland has issued a heat advisory for today. Highs are expected to be 95 to 100. Even if it only reaches 96, with the humid air it would feel like 101 degrees. After this weekend, the humidity will be back to normal, but the hot weather continues with highs in the 90s perhaps all next week.
We drop a few degrees on Friday into the lower 90s. If we get enough cloudiness coming in from the south or southwest, we may end up a degree or so below 90 Saturday. Then back to 90 degrees or better for many more days.
Officially for Vancouver, the total Monday was only .07 of an inch. However, moving northward beyond Salmon Creek, our weather observer Ellen Smart in Ridgefield measured six-tenths of an inch. That amount was representative of other amounts up to La Center and eastward to the foothills and a little less than a half-inch in the Battle Ground area. Tom Dixon, an observer in Amboy, recorded 1.18 inches of rain. That would have been enough to penetrate the forest canopy a little bit and slow the wildfire danger in northeastern Clark County.
Take it easy today and enjoy the blast of summer in the first week of August. If outside or at the county fair, stay hydrated!
