I don't want to hype the heat, but it will be warming up a bit in a few days. But before I talk about that, check out all the action in the Pacific visible satellite image (see image). Two tropical storms over the southern Pacific, a nice midlatitude cyclone in the central north Pacific, low stratus off of California, and thunderstorms over the Colorado Rockies. Something for everyone!
A weak front passed through this morning, but only trace to a few hundreds of an inch of rain fell. As the front moved through skies opened over most of the western side and temperatures rose into the upper 60s and lower 70s today. Tomorrow (Wed) will be a step up in temperature, but Thursday will be the big day as ridging aloft develops and offshore flow strengthens at low levels. So I would expect mid to upper 70s tomorrow and mid-80s over the lowlands (away from water) on Thursday. A weak front will follow on Friday morning...but few if any showers will reach the western interior...although some showers may occur on the coast. The front will bring the temps back into the mid-70s..which is normal for this time of the year.
So nearly perfect weather...you don't need a meteorologist for a while. That is why I am heading to the San Juans to give two public lectures...see info to the right if you are interested.
Several people have asked me what is happening with the coastal weather radar. Well, my colleagues in the National Weather Service and their contractor are hard at work evaluating sites with the aid of some of us at the UW. Work is going well and a report will be made public early this fall with potential sites. But we still need for the remaining money to pass through Congress...and our U.S. Senators are working on this, with the help of our local congressmen. Looks good.
