Clouds this weekend but the heat stays with us

The heat will continue to hang out. We will be about 5-10 degrees cooler than last week, but we’ll stay in the 90s across the region for the next week. Today, we’ll be in the upper 90s. We are seeing some relief at night with lows in the mid to upper 50s for most of the region. Areas more south, like Sunriver and La Pine, will be cooler during the nighttime hours with lows in the mid and upper 40s.

The ridge of high pressure continues to move slowly east. It is currently over the southwest. As it moves, the general airflow over our region shifts and we get a more southerly flow. Air from the south will bring in some moisture. For us, it won’t necessarily mean rain or storms. We are still very dry at the surface, but we will definitely see more cloud cover today and tomorrow and a little into next week as well.

There is some chance that Southeast Oregon could see some thunderstorms. But again, the surface is so dry that it’s not very likely that a lot of rain will make it to the ground. However, we could still see some lightning. This is called “dry lightning” because the lightning reaches the ground but the rain doesn’t. This is a big concern for fire danger.

Fires have been breaking out all over the state, the largest being the Cow Valley Fire to our east. If you’ve noticed outside, it’s a bit smoky out there. There isn’t a lot going on in our Tri-Counties region, but the rest of Oregon is seeing fires start and spread rapidly, which has made us hazy. We’ll be a bit breezy for a few days which is again, a concern for fire danger.

Continue to protect yourself from the heat. Have a good weekend!