Heatin' Up this Weekend!

Thanks Chelle for reminding me of my Weather Bites!

 

 Monday, 7/18, morning fog creeping off the bay into the SoDo District and Downtown Seattle. Picture taken by Sandy.

After what seems like weeks of uncharacteristic summer weather, and another week of it; people are feeling the summer blues but are seeing grey. My friends and family are asking me when summer is going start or when we will feel the heat. On our way to Red Mango today Pat and I noticed people are still bundled with jackets and hoods, rain boots, and lugging around umbrellas. Summer much? more like Autumn. We used the car's heater on our way back to simulate summer and complement our cold frozen yogurt and smoothies.

Let's reflect on July for the last five years by numbers to see if we actually are lacking heat this year. It was only two weekends ago that we had a stretch of 80 degree weather, which seems like eternity for some folks :)

These numbers were recorded at Seatac Airport and retrieved from the National Weather Service.

Year         Days >= 80 degrees         Average High         Days w/Precip
2010         10                                     74.9                         7
2009         18                                     81.0                         5
2008          9                                      74.9                         6
2007         10                                     77.4                         9
2006         12                                     78.1                         7
So far this July...
2011         3                                       73.4                         9

According to the Average High we are about 'average' for this corner of the Earth because each day we have been topping off in the low to mid 70s, but what we remember summer by is the stretches of hot weather, and well... sunshine.  With only 3 days at 80 degrees or above this July and only 10 days left in the month, we will definitely be below normal compared to the last five years in that sense.

Good news though, there's a chance to tack on one day to the Days >=80 degrees column for 2011 and if we're lucky... two days.  This weekend we'll be heatin' up!

This is the 500 mb heights forecast for 5pm PST today.  mb is a measure of pressure, and the heights indicate how high from sea level is 500  mb measured.  So the greater the heights the warmer the air since warmer air takes up more space.  Notice how the Northwest is under a shade of red and in the U part of a wave.  That signifies lower heights/thicknesses translating to cooler temperatures and the U part is a trough which spells clouds and precipitation.

This next image paints a different picture.  We are in a lighter shade and in a ridge where the wave bubbles up over us.  Ridges indicate high pressure, clear weather, and solar radiation reaching the ground heating up the lower atmosphere and with higher heights... warmer weather! 

The ridge doesn't look like it will last too long though.  A brief warm up for the weekend that may last into Monday before we return back to whatever you call this kind of weather; clouds, light rain, peeks of afternoon sun, and low 70s.

Today looks gross outside but is drying out as the day goes on with the exception of the Convergence Zone.  We'll all get some peeks of sun before sunset.  The bite for tomorrow; after morning clouds high pressure begins to settle in for afternoon sunshine.

Drum roll please for this weekend. And, put on your thinking caps for outdoor activities. Sunny and sunny up and down Interstate 5 with temperatures in the upper 70s to low 80s for the Seattle Area, low 70s near the Canadian border, and upper 80s around Portland for both Saturday and Sunday. That's all I have to write. What happens next is up to you :)  I'll keep an eye on this 'heat wave' to see if it will fall apart when Saturday approaches.