Model output from WeatherBell added by Anthony

By Steve Pierce, AMS chapter president, Oregon

Portland, Oregon (June 25th 2013) – “The hottest weather of the season is likely on the way for the Pacific Northwest this coming weekend, and it could get even hotter next week. In fact, the entire western half of the country is about to bake under what could be a near record setting heatwave for some locations in the southwest. Models are coming into better agreement today for a significant heatwave across much of the west starting this Thursday and lasting into early next week.

At this point in time there is the potential for seeing temperatures approaching 130 degrees in Death Valley, CA. which would be just a few degrees shy of the all-time world record highest temperature ever recorded for any location on earth. The old world record of 136 degrees recorded in Libya back in 1922 was found to be incorrect and the torch (literally) has now been passed to Death Valley, CA. that reached 134 degrees in 1913. Could Death Valley challenge this temperature once again? It could be close. At the present time, models are suggesting they will be pushing 130 degrees later this week down there.”

“The big question remains, how hot will it get here in the Pacific Northwest? It will all depend on exactly where the ridge of high pressure sets up. The latest weather models now place the center of the ridge directly over Portland and Seattle Sunday through Tuesday with hot offshore flow aloft and near the surface. If this were to verify, temperatures could approach 100 degrees in Portland early next week. This would be rare for this early in the season. Only a handful of days before July 4th have passed 100 degrees in Portland history. Record daily high temperatures for Portland in the first few days of July are all in the upper 90′s. We could end up challenging some of these if the models continue their recent trend of forecasting hotter weather with each run. The exact details are still a few days away for us here in the Pac NW. A slight shift in the position of the ridge can make a lot of difference for us. This much is certain, you can say goodbye to showers and temps in the 60′s. These will quickly be replaced with sunshine and temps in the 80′s to near 90 by the weekend and possibly another 10 degrees warmer early next week. Get out those shorts and prime that pool for some swimming! If you don’t have a pool, make friends with someone who does. You may just need it!

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