typical summer weather

It was more humid yesterday than usual, with the monsoonal flow streaming up from the south. This produced thunderstorms along the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountains yesterday morning and again in the afternoon. The lightning show was pretty vivid early yesterday morning; even though the thunderstorms were over the Blue Canyon and Lake Tahoe areas, I could still see some flashes of lightning from my house. No rain fell in Chico, and that trend will continue for awhile. A deepening trough over the California coast will bring in some cooler air to valley and mountain locations this week. We should see highs in the lower 90s by the end of this week- typical summer weather for us. Low temperatures will be mainly in the lower 60s. This is what I call Ho-Hum Weather- nothing exciting, just boring, repetitive weather. Here is Chico's seven day forecast (yawn) from the National Weather Service: Today Sunny, with a high near 95. South wind 3 to 8 mph. Tonight Clear, with a low around 62. Southeast wind around 9 mph. Wednesday Sunny, with a high near 93. South wind 3 to 8 mph. Wednesday Night Clear, with a low around 61. Southeast wind around 9 mph. Thursday Sunny, with a high near 92. South wind 3 to 7 mph. Thursday Night Clear, with a low around 59. Friday Sunny, with a high near 91. Friday Night Clear, with a low around 61. Saturday Sunny, with a high near 93. Saturday Night Clear, with a low around 61. Sunday Sunny, with a high near 93. Sunday Night Clear, with a low around 62. Monday Sunny, with a high near 94.

cooler this week

It was a pretty hot weekend in Chico, with the high temperature yesterday of 100 degrees and a high today of 104 degrees. It'll still be hot tomorrow as highs reach the upper 90s. A trough of low pressure passing to our north will increase the marine flow later this week, cooling temps down to below average by Thursday. Next weekend looks nice, with highs in the upper 80s to around 90 degrees. Sunshine will prevail for the next week. Here is Chico's seven day forecast from the National Weather Service: Tonight Clear, with a low around 64. South wind 5 to 8 mph becoming calm in the evening. Monday Sunny and hot, with a high near 99. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon. Monday Night Clear, with a low around 62. East southeast wind 6 to 8 mph. Tuesday Sunny and hot, with a high near 96. South wind 3 to 5 mph. Tuesday Night Clear, with a low around 60. Southeast wind 6 to 8 mph. Wednesday Sunny, with a high near 93. Wednesday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 61. Thursday Sunny, with a high near 92. Thursday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 60. Friday Sunny, with a high near 91. Friday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 59. Saturday Sunny, with a high near 90. Saturday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 60. Sunday Sunny, with a high near 89.

hot weekend

After high temperatures in the low to mid 80s the past three days, temps will return to the 90s today through next week. Highs will be in the upper 90s to near 100 degrees for Saturday and Sunday. If you have any outdoor plans, be careful. Drink plenty of water and keep in the shade if you must be outside. Check on pets and make sure they have plenty of water, as well. By early next week, temps will be below average, which is 94 for the high this time of year. All in all so far this summer, it hasn't been too hot. We've had periods of hot weather, but it has been balanced by periods of below average temperatures. In fact, we haven't had a really atypically hot summer in over four years. I still believe Northern California's weather is being influenced by a cool pocket of ocean water just off the Pacific Northwest coast. This is creating overall moderate temperatures for us. How long this will last is unknown, but so far four years is quite impressive. Anyway, here is Chico's seven day forecast from the National Weather Service: Today Sunny, with a high near 92. Light and variable wind becoming south around 6 mph in the morning. Tonight Clear, with a low around 63. South wind around 6 mph becoming light and variable after midnight. Saturday Sunny and hot, with a high near 99. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon. Saturday Night Clear, with a low around 64. South wind around 5 mph becoming light and variable in the evening. Sunday Sunny and hot, with a high near 99. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming light and variable in the morning. Sunday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 63. Monday Sunny and hot, with a high near 98. Monday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 63. Tuesday Sunny, with a high near 95. Tuesday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 61. Wednesday Sunny, with a high near 92. Wednesday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 61. Thursday Sunny, with a high near 90.

cool weather followed by another heat wave

Chico and surrounding areas are seeing a bit of a marine layer this morning as strong southerly flow from the Delta transports cool ocean air into the valley. Hopefully this marine layer will burn off by mid morning and the sun will return. It won't be hot today at all as we will continue to experience the Delta breeze. Today's high won't get above 80 degrees- nearly unheard of during this time of year! The average high for July 17th is 94 degrees. Don't get used to the milder weather, as another hot spell looms ahead. By this weekend we will see temps back into the triple digits, and these temps might stick around into early next week. We won't think about that now, though. We'll focus on the nice, mild temps we're currently enjoying, and be thankful we have a brief rest before enduring more hot weather. Here's Chico's seven day forecast from the National Weather Service: Today A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 77. South southeast wind 9 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 57. South wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light and variable after midnight. Wednesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 83. Calm wind becoming south southeast 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon. Wednesday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 59. East southeast wind 7 to 9 mph. Thursday Sunny, with a high near 87. South wind 3 to 7 mph. Thursday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 62. Friday Sunny, with a high near 92. Friday Night Clear, with a low around 65. Saturday Sunny and hot, with a high near 100. Saturday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 66. Sunday Sunny and hot, with a high near 101. Sunday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 66. Monday Sunny and hot, with a high near 102.

brief respite from the heat

Today's high temperature in Chico was 95 degrees under sunny skies. Southerly winds kicked in by mid-afternoon today, and this will usher in cooler (relatively speaking) air from the Sacramento River Delta to our south by tomorrow. The cooler air will last until the end of the week, and highs will be back into the mid 90s by next weekend. Southerly winds could be gusty at times tomorrow and tomorrow night. As is typical this time of year, no rain is in the forecast. We could use it, as the Mill fire to our west and the Robber fire near Lake Tahoe to our southeast continue to burn. Smoke occasionally drifts over our area from the Mill fire, though it hasn't been too bad today. The Mill fire is now over 27,000 acres in size and is 60% contained as of this morning. Here is Chico's seven day forecast from the National Weather Service: Tonight Mostly clear, with a low around 61. South southeast wind 6 to 11 mph. Monday Sunny, with a high near 87. South southeast wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Monday Night Increasing clouds, with a low around 57. Southeast wind 8 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Tuesday Partly sunny, with a high near 80. South southeast wind 7 to 9 mph. Tuesday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 57. Southeast wind 7 to 9 mph. Wednesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 81. Wednesday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 58. Thursday Sunny, with a high near 90. Thursday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 61. Friday Sunny, with a high near 93. Friday Night Clear, with a low around 62. Saturday Sunny and hot, with a high near 97. Saturday Night Clear, with a low around 63. Sunday Sunny and hot, with a high near 97.

heat wave is broken

Today's high temperature at the Chico Airport was 93 degrees. This breaks the consecutive days of high temps of 95 or above at six. Looking ahead, temps will continue to cool down as the Delta breeze picks up. By Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, look for highs only in the mid 80s. Nice! Normals for mid July are 94 for the high and 62 for the low. Don't forget, Slice of Chico is tomorrow in downtown Chico. It begins at 9 am. Slice of Chico is an annual event in which downtown merchants have a sort of sidewalk sale where shoppers can peruse good bargains and munch on slices of watermelon (hence, Slice of Chico). Check it out- the weather should cooperate. Here is Chico's seven day forecast from the National Weather Service: Tonight Mostly clear, with a low around 62. South southeast wind 6 to 11 mph becoming light south after midnight. Saturday Sunny, with a high near 92. Calm wind becoming south around 6 mph in the afternoon. Saturday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 64. South wind around 6 mph becoming light and variable in the evening. Sunday Sunny, with a high near 94. Calm wind. Sunday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 63. South wind around 6 mph becoming east southeast in the evening. Monday Sunny, with a high near 92. Monday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 59. Tuesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 86. Tuesday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 59. Wednesday Sunny, with a high near 86. Wednesday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 59. Thursday Sunny, with a high near 90. Thursday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 62. Friday Sunny, with a high near 94.

heat wave: day 6

The high temperature in Chico today was 105 degrees, continuing the streak of highs of 95 or above. Looking at the forecast, this trend looks to finally break on Monday as highs should only be around 93 degrees. That's where we should be on average for this time of year. At least it shouldn't be in the triple digits after today (hopefully). Upper level winds have allowed smoke from the Mill fire to blow across the Sacramento Valley today, resulting in very hazy conditions. I wonder how much this smoke affected the high temperature, in that if the smoke wasn't there could we have been hotter. Perhaps we'll never know;). Anyway, here is the (cooler) forecast for Chico from the National Weather Service: Tonight Mostly clear, with a low around 64. South wind 5 to 8 mph becoming light and variable after midnight. Friday Sunny and hot, with a high near 99. Calm wind becoming south southeast 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon. Friday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 62. South southeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light south southwest after midnight. Saturday Sunny, with a high near 95. Calm wind becoming south around 6 mph in the afternoon. Saturday Night Clear, with a low around 63. South southeast wind around 6 mph becoming northeast in the evening. Sunday Sunny and hot, with a high near 97. Sunday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 62. Monday Sunny, with a high near 93. Monday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 60. Tuesday Sunny, with a high near 89. Tuesday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 59. Wednesday Sunny, with a high near 88. Wednesday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 60. Thursday Sunny, with a high near 94.