We are a little way past the halfway point of summer, defined for these purposes as the three-month period June through August. In contrast to all the heat this summer in the middle and eastern portions of the Nation, so far the Northwest has been noticeably cooler and wetter than normal.
The above chart shows the departure from normal of temperatures and precipitation since June 1. Most temperatures are 1 to 2 degrees below normal. More significant is the precipitation column showing considerably above-normal rainfall, as much as two and a half times normal in Walla Walla, a usually dry place this time of year.
A series of upper-level lows from off the North Pacific has been responsible for the cooler- and wetter-than-normal weather. Currently we have one of these lows sitting off the southern Oregon coast. This will lift northeast tonight and tomorrow bringing some showers and thunderstorms along its path. However, in its wake, yet another low in the eastern Gulf of Alaska drops south taking its place by Sunday and Monday moving from west to east across Washington state. This is likely to bring some additional showers and thunderstorms and also cool things down again after a brief warm-up Friday into Saturday.
The first day of the Eastern Pacific Tropical Season gives us the first tropical storm of the season.
this could be shaping up to be not only an early fire season but a bad one too
Coachella Music Festival temperatures are likely to be in the middle to upper 90s this weekend.
It always seems that hot weather arrives just in time for the festival and looking at the history that is mostly true.
If headed into or through any mountain areas, know ahead of time that snow levels are likely to drop to 2,000 feet in the Washington Cascades
It seems highly likely that there will be a period of very windy weather from Sunday afternoon through Monday
Ken Clark
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