Region familiar with triple-digit summers

Last week, I mentioned that the hottest day ever recorded in Spokane was on Aug. 4, 1961, when it hit 108 degrees.

On that day, the Wenatchee airport hit 109, Ephrata and Lewiston each registered 115, Pullman was 110, Colville 107, Ritzville 112 and Sandpoint 100. The Coeur d’Alene airport was 109.

Although, those numbers are impressive, some locations were even hotter in other years. For example, downtown Wenatchee was 110 on July 18, 1941. Lewiston soared to 117 degrees on July 27, 1939. Colville was 109 degrees on July 23, 1994. Sandpoint was 104 degrees on July 23, 1994.

I am expecting the time frame between now and the middle of August to be the hottest period of the summer season. Don’t be surprised to see temperatures near the century mark around the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene area, with readings over the 100-degree mark in the Columbia Basin.

One of the most torrid heat waves in our region, especially during the 20th century, occurred in August of 1967. The Spokane International Airport had 11 consecutive days with temperatures at 90 or higher. Lewiston observed 11 consecutive days with readings at or above 100. Within the last few weeks, temperatures in the desert regions of the southwestern U.S. have been sizzling. On July 19, Death Valley, Calif., had an amazing 128-degree reading. That was only 3 degrees from tying North America’s all-time hottest temperature of 131 degrees at Death Valley on June 29, 1994.

While the Western states have been enjoying – or dealing with – a relatively warm summer season, conditions have been the opposite near the Great Lakes and the Canadian border east of the Rockies. Early frosts have already been reported in these areas. Some regions in southern Canada may not even get a corn crop this year due to the unusually chilly weather. Some in this part of the world are declaring it “the year without a summer.”

As mentioned earlier, the first part of August looks hot and drier than normal in the Inland Northwest. Temperatures will cool a bit toward the middle of the month. After Labor Day, conditions should start turning much wetter and cooler.

With sunspot activity recently returning to zero and a new El Nino (warmer-than-normal sea-surface temperature event) in the south-central Pacific Ocean, our upcoming winter may be much drier that the last two seasons. I’ll have more on this in the upcoming weeks.