Weather Eye: July will end today much as it began with hot, dry conditions

Expect more of the same: sunshine and hot weather for the next few days and into the weekend. How about 90 degrees today and 85-90 through Sunday? After today, it will slowly cool off.

Strong high pressure to our east is keeping it very hot east of the Cascade mountains and hot on the west side. The coast is quite seasonal: near 70 degrees.

Moisture from the Southwestern U.S. continues to move north and will increase the next few days, sparking thunderstorms and dry lightning over the Cascades and east of the mountains. I can rule out a drifting storm cell or two on the west side. You will see those towering clouds each day to our east though.

July will end today much as it came in: The high for July 1 was 98 degrees, and today, we may be able to reach 90 degrees. If we hit 90 degrees today, it will be the sixth 90 degree day for the month. We have been close many times with 88 or 89 degrees.

I enjoy these warm summer nights with central air conditioning, but I also enjoy sitting out on the deck as the sun sets and temperatures drop to 80 degrees or so. At midnight Tuesday, it was still 72 degrees. Remember that in January, when we are bundled up and the temperature is in the teens at that hour.

Summer evenings bring back childhood memories of sitting in the lawn swing with my dad. Many nights, I slept in that old swing to escape the heat of my upstairs bedroom.

Singer Nat King Cole once sang, “Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer. You’ll wish that summer could always be here.”

Patrick Timm is a local weather specialist. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Reach him at patricktimm.com.