Mild July Start

 

(Limited connectivity last week while your host was on The Metolius River; hence we missed last Friday’s update opportunity.)  Lots of dry weather ahead, along with the threat for rain/mountain showers late in the holiday weekend ahead.  Mug ready?

 

West side, the current heat event will end Tue, with Patrons east of the Cascades getting another day or two of heat.  It will be seasonally pleasant for the balance of the week, as the holiday weekend approaches.  

 

The 4th of July weekend should start out pleasant, dry.  We are monitoring the future position of a weak Low pressure trough that may set up west of the southern OR coast.  If this develops, expect increased humidity, mountain showers & thunderstorms to form over the OR cascades on Sunday, July 3 - FIRE WATCH, then work their way north into WA on the 4th.  In fact, some model solutions indicate a very WET slap of rain/storms for the Abbotsford/Lynden area by Tue the 5th, or sooner.  That Low may remain far enough off the coast to have limited impact on the region, so we’ll update this Friday, July 1st.

 

After the holiday, expect temps to remain mild for July, with increasing chance for clouds and drizzle/light showers over the north Puget Sound area by Thu/Fri July 7,8; OR & ID will remain dry.   Concurrently, HEAT will rocket up over southern CA, enough to make the news with possible brown-outs, given their energy issues.  That same heat dome will expand into the Rocky Mtns and eventually portions of the Plains as the second weekend of July gets underway.  Denver could hit record high temps.  The monsoons may get an early start over the desert SW, as well.

 

The PNW's next short ‘warm-up’ may develop around July 10-12.  Early yet, but between now and then, temperatures should remain seasonal, or a bit below average for NW WA & southern BC.  Overall, an onshore breeze will be the main source of natural air conditioning for the next couple of weeks.