Tuesday/ cooler weather prevails 🌥️

We had 18 consecutive days above 80°F (26°C) in the city by Sunday— a record number of consecutive days.
The run ended on Monday, which brought a high of only 68°F (20°C).

I found these lilies here on Capitol Hill during my walk tonight.
If I have it right, these are Lily Muscadet or Lily Oriental Muscadet, a cross between a Korean and a Japanese lily.

Saturday/ blue skies 🏙

It was another beautiful blue sky day here in the city— 85°F  (29 °C).

Here’s a view of downtown Bellevue, taken from my passenger seat at the top of the Ship Canal Bridge as we were heading north on I-5.
That’s the Portage Bay body of water in the foreground.
Vessels have the Montlake Cut to get to Lake Washington (visible at left, middle of the picture).
Downtown Bellevue is on the east side of Lake Washington, and those are the Cascades mountain range in the distance.

Friday/ cheers 🍻

Happy Friday.
The amigos met at Chuck’s Hop Shop in Central District for a beer and a bite.
The streak of warmer-than-usual-but-not-unbearable weather here in the city will continue through the weekend— 83°F (28°C) today and up to 88°F (31°C) tomorrow.

Monday/ sunny and dry ☀️

There was cloud cover this morning, but it was gone by late morning.
Today was the 12th day in a row with a high 80°+ (27°C+) recorded at Sea-Tac.
(The record is 15 days in a row, and it will be broken).
There has also been no rain in July, and we have a real shot at reaching the end of July with no rain at all.
Normally, July ends with about 0.67″ of recorded rain.

What has been the driest July on record? I wondered.
Here is what the Office of the Washington State Climatologist says about July 1960:
‘All of the climate divisions of the state were exceedingly dry in July 1960 (ranging from 0.01” in the Puget Sound Lowlands to 0.05” in the East Slopes Cascades region).
Some stunningly low amounts of precipitation occurred in spots that normally get a fair amount of rain.
For example, in the coastal region of WA, Forks checked in with only 0.04” and Hoquiam got completely shut out with 0.00”.
The 1981-2010 climate normal for Forks and Hoquiam in July is 2.47 and 1.14”, respectively’.

These daisies here on Capitol Hill are looking good, in spite of the warm weather and lack of rain.

Tuesday/ a crescent moon🌙

We had 97°F  (36°C) here in the city of Seattle today, record for this day on the calendar.
The sunny weather and clear skies will persist, but the high should come down by some 10°F (5.5°C) tomorrow.

Picture posted by Ted S. Warren @tedswarren on X. (I reduced the pixel size of the picture).
He says: ‘Thanks to a great heads-up from @NWSSeattle Sunday, I was able to get the crescent moon and Mercury in a frame looking west in Idaho’.

Sunday ☀️

The weather forecast now says the heat here in the city will top out on Tuesday at 95°F (35°C).
I like to take a picture or two of my hydrangea’s bloom every summer before the hot weather scorches the little flowers.

My hydrangea is almost in full bloom.
In South Africa, hydrangeas are typically in full bloom in December.
That’s why we call them ‘Krismisrose’ in Afrikaans, which translates to ‘Christmas roses’.

Friday/ hot in the city 🔥

I don’t have an installed sprinkler system for my new lawn, so it’s the oscillating sprinkler or moi with a watering wand in hand that will keep the lawn watered.

 

It is hot – Seattle ‘hot’ – here in the city this weekend, with 87°F (30°C) today.

The highs are forecast to climb to 94°F (34°C) by Monday.

Friday/ try to stay cool 😎

Check out these charts from the New York Times.
There are lots of US cities with triple-digit heat index forecasts, but the hottest ones are all in Arizona.
(The second table is the same, but with heat index forecasts in Celsius).

Phoenix, Ariz.: Projected Heat Index for Daytime and Night Time
I’d think it’s impossible to cool down a house with no airconditioning if the outside temperature does not even drop into the 80s at night time.
[Graphic by New York Times]
Seattle, Wash.: Projected Heat Index for Daytime and Night Time
Here in Seattle I can still get away for now, without deploying my one-room airconditioner (I roll it out of the closet on its wheels and set it up in the bedroom for summer 😃). 
For now I open the upstairs windows at 9 pm and let the cool air in.
[Graphic by New York Times]

Tuesday/ here comes the heat 🔥

One of the longest-lasting and strongest June heat waves in years is revving up across the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
The most intense heat first focuses on the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and New England through Thursday, shifting toward the Mid-Atlantic this weekend.
– Ian Livingston writing for the Washington Post

Here in Seattle we are hiding in the northwest corner of the USA. By Friday we will get to 82°F (28°C), but no more than that into the weekend.
Elsewhere, out in the southeast and northeast, a dozen states are facing an extreme HeatRisk (4 out of 4) with no overnight relief, into the weekend.
Philadelphia may see 100°F (38°C), Washington DC 97°F (36°C), and because of the population density in the northeast, about 70 million people are under these heat alerts.
As for the summer months that are still ahead of us, Ian Livingston notes in his report that ‘Global temperatures have been at record levels for a year because of both the El Niño climate pattern and human-caused climate warming. With El Niño having dissipated and La Niña taking over, global temperatures should come down somewhat in the coming months.’

Saturday/ rain 🌧️

There was rain today: a nice little late afternoon downpour.
It was only 58°F  (14 °C) when I went out for a walk afterwards.

Spring is coming to a rough ending weatherwise, elsewhere in the country.
Places in southern Florida had been drenched with 24 in. of rain or more over the last few days, and it was 111 °F (44 °C) in Phoenix, Arizona today.

Saturday/ summer weather ☀️

Happy Saturday.
It felt like summer today here in Seattle (78 °F/ 26 °C) and the sunny weather will continue for several more days.

I found these California poppies by the pickleball courts at Beacon Hill Playfield on Thursday.

A soggy Sunday ☔

It rained all day.
It looks like we will be getting all of June’s normal rainfall (1.45 in) here in the greater Seattle area over the next three days.
Two back-to-back atmospheric rivers are bringing in the precipitation.

Friday ☀️

Happy Friday.
It was a lovely spring day around the city.
Everyone seemed to be out on the streets.
I colorized the photo that I took while I was stuck at the University Bridge while it was opened to ship canal traffic.
Look for the little float plane up in the air.

Friday/ sun ☀

It felt like spring today, with the sun out all day long.
Here in the city of Seattle we touched 60 °F (15 °C) at the high.

I got a set of USA stamps from one of my amigos (thanks, Steve!).
Here is one of my favorites.
Lindbergh Flight Issue
50th Anniversary of Charles A. Lindbergh’s solo transatlantic flight from New York to Paris, May 20, 1927
Issued May 20, 1977  Photolitho. Perf. 11
1710 A1099    13c   Multicolored   Spirit of St. Louis over Atlantic Ocean
[Source: Scott 2003 Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue, Vol. 1]

Wednesday/ twilight ✨

There was sun today, but it does not feel like spring yet here in the city.
It was only 47 °F (8 °C) as I went for a quick walk after dinner.

Sunset is now at 7.13 pm.
I am standing on my usual spot at 14th Avenue East and East Thomas Street.

Thursday/ crocuses 🌱

It was a pleasant winter’s day here in the city with sunshine, blue skies and a high of 56°F (13 °C).

The other harbingers of spring— crocuses— are out here on Seattle’s Capitol Hill as well.