‘Dog days’ bring hottest temperatures of season

We are in the midst of what many people would call the “dog days of summer.” Outside of the occasional wind/dust storm, the days are hot and dry, and weather changes very little on a day-to-day basis. Like many phrases we use to refer to weather, i.e. “March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb,” the “dog days of summer” actually has its origin in astronomy.

The ancient Romans considered the period between July 23 to Aug. 23 to be the “dog days,” associating the hot weather with the star Sirius, whose ascent during this period appeared to coincide with sunrise. Sirius is often called the dog star, because it is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (a name which means “large dog”). Back in those days, the Romans would even sacrifice a brown dog to appease the rage of the god Sirius, because the hot weather he was thought to bring caused crops to ripen prematurely.

Locally, we should be seeing some of the hottest weather of the season over the next couple of weeks, though hitting the 100 degree mark is not very common. Last year, the lone triple-digit reading recorded in Spokane was 101 degrees on Aug. 1. In 2008, the hottest summer temp came a bit later on Aug. 17 when the mercury soared to 103 degrees. Over the last 20 years, temperatures reached or surpassed 100 degrees only 9 times – less than 50 percent. The all-time record high temperature in Spokane (since 1947, when the observation site was moved to the current airport location) is 108 degrees, set back on Aug. 4, 1961. Coeur d’Alene also reached its all time hottest temperature of 109 degrees that day.

Despite all the recent hot weather, there is still some relatively good news to report on the fire weather front. As of July 22, there have been approximately 35,000 wildfires across the U.S. which have burned nearly about 1.9 million acres. This, however, is the second least active fire season to date in the last decade.