Is Summer Over? - Update

After our cool weather of late, summer feels like it’s over. But don’t despair.  If you're a fan of the hot weather, it will return for the holiday weekend and beyond. 

First, we’ll have one more storm system to contend with. As I said in the last blog, this next weather system isn’t at all like what we saw on Friday. Instead, this storm will move by along the Washington-BC border. 

This pattern typically brings more wind than rain for our area. And any rain we do get would be Tuesday morning and on the light side.  Winds will likely gust in excess of 30 mph on Tuesday. 

There’s a feature worth noting on this upcoming system. Take a look at the temperature (red) and dew point (black) forecast for Deer Park. 

Notice how quickly the dew point drops on Tuesday. That’s some very dry air that will arrive behind the storm system. Not unusual for this time of year with early fall fronts. Besides the obvious implications on fire weather, this also could impact your garden. The dry air will allow temperatures at night to get very chilly. Wednesday morning will be cool, around 40. But Thursday morning could approach freezing. The coldest spots around are usually Springdale and Priest Lake, so those folks should definitely cover their plants and disconnect hoses from spigots. 

High pressure will build into the area behind the Tuesday system. By the holiday weekend, we’ll be in the low 90s.  And those temperatures will continue into next week  

But notice the small low off the California coast. These lows are very difficult to predict. The computers usually don’t do well with them.  But there is the possibility that this low will bring a threat of afternoon showers to the area starting on Labor Day and continuing through much of next week.