Thursday was our second 90-degree high temperature of the year, and Friday was our third. Will today be our fourth? It depends.
As I wrote my column Friday evening, it appeared ocean air would be rushing inland before the peak heat of the day, so I figured the mid-80s were a safe bet. I could be wrong, but I’ll welcome the cooler air.
You will feel brisk northwest winds this evening, and I’m sure much of the county will have some brief morning clouds at least on Sunday. Highs on Sunday should reside in the 70s, but of course, if the clouds break up earlier, we could easily reach 80 degrees.
The cooler air will be with us Monday, and then we’ll turn the heat back up. It’s possible we will top out at 90 degrees Wednesday.
The trend continues with a few days of warm weather followed by a few days of cooler weather, and so on. Forecast charts want to bring some light showers by the end of next week, but that is so far away that it could easily evaporate, so to speak.
We usually observe between 15 and 20 days of 90-degree weather each summer, and that amount has been slowly increasing for the past decade or so. Now that summer is officially here, we are about to turn the corner on warmth that sometimes escapes us until after the Fourth of July. As the old saying goes: In the Northwest, summer officially begins on July 5.
Despite some precipitation earlier this month, vegetation is drying out quickly. I’ve noticed that on the median strips along the local freeways. The grass is almost totally brown and dry. Even if weather charts late next week are correct and we have some rain, it certainly wouldn’t be a soaker.
Soon, the dog days of summer will be upon us. According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, they start on July 3 and run through Aug. 11.
I always chuckled when my pup went outside, headed for the shade and laid around. I will miss that this year, as she recently passed away.
Enjoy the weekend, with a mixed menu of one warm day and one cool day — something for everybody.
