Heat wave here in the Pacific Northwest. Not as bad as the one of 2021 where it got up to 105F and I could smell the heated wood, metal, and concrete of my house but still pretty hot.

My mom and I witnessed the most bizarre weather yesterday: the sun was shining and there was quite a lot of blue sky but we could hear a thunderstorm raging and it sounded quite close, some of the thunder claps made us jump. The sky did eventually cloud over and we got a little bit of rain but I don't think I have ever experienced that loud of thunder and sunshine at the same time!

I call those type of days "adventurous weather days", @narnian-in-the-north. We had a similar day awhile back: brilliant sunshine one minute; very dark and stormy the next ... back and forth like that most of the day. Really interesting and fun! We have had some great thunderstorms here this summer too, which I really like!

We had a comfortable week here last week, with a very decent balance of sun and rain. I was even able to walk early a couple of mornings, given that the temperature was around 12 or 13C / 53.6 or 55.4F. That is about my 'high' limit for walking, so I am eagerly anticipating another month or so, when temps will start gradually dropping again.  

Although the change of daylight versus night is not strongly noticeable here in July, I am keeping close track, and since our Summer Solstice (June 20), the days have shortened by 18 minutes already, with sunrise times changing more rapidly than sunset times at this point. All this ramps up in August, when the lighting differential is much more noticeable as we head toward shorter days and longer nights again (my favourite!).

Today through Tuesday is a brief very hot and humid stretch (with a mixture of sun and rain), typical for our Julys, then moderating mid-week to more comfy temps, both daytime and nighttime. As with last summer, the rainfall and sunshine have been well-balanced, which means that everything growing is still lush and thriving, including all our floral and veggie gardens. In the past, July has often meant 2-3 weeks of no rain, hot and humid, dry as anything, so we are very grateful for this change. The kindly precipitation also saves on higher watering bills.  

We like to have various groups of folk over for campfires most weekends, and it sure has been nice again this year not having a fire ban because of dry-dry-dry.

Nearly at mid-July, so only just over two more weeks until August and the hints, scents, and anticipation of beautiful and welcome Autumn!  

Our weather finally got the memo that summer is here.

We haven't yet hit 90F (32C), even though on average that happens by June 9 and last year at this time we'd had close to 20 such days. But we have a shot at it today.

Yesterday was hot and humid with "air you can wear," and our atmosphere was capped - a layer of air aloft that keeps thunderstorms from growing tall and serious. But our weather people warned that if a storm managed to break that cap, it would go critical in a hurry.

And that happened around midnight, with baseball-sized hail just west of here. With no warning, a gust front blew through here with winds of 68 mph (109 km/hr), nearly hurricane velocity, followed by a spectacular lightning and thunder show.

I've seen a lot of glorious lightning displays but this was up there with the best. Blinding strobe light flashes were almost continuous, and the thunder rattled the windows and trees.

A local station had a meteorologist live despite the hour (now almost 1 am), and you could hear the hail hitting the roof of the TV station (and the thunder) over the broadcast! At one point he simply said, "I have to go out and see how big the hail is since my car is out there." (When he returned he said it sounded worse than it really was).

By 2 am the high winds, hail, and lightning had moved into western Wisconsin, becoming less severe without atmospheric heating of the day.

Today, we're back to having a sauna outside.

It was quite the night! Some branches were blown out of the trees and the garden sustained some damage from the winds.

It’s getting hot here in Oregon. We even have to keep our two cats indoors for the most part (and I’m sure that those who have pets keep them inside when it’s too hot in the Northern Hemisphere or when it’s too cold in the Southern Hemisphere). 

Midwinter brings its challenges, and my current one is that the small leaks in my garage roof are now turning into big leaks, so I have had to put in an insurance claim. Within the next few days I may have had the roof repaired, and the work assessed. I'll have to pay the excess, and the cost of the repair. But I hope the insurer will cover the damage inside the garage caused by the leaks.  Roll on spring!

Posted by: @stargazer

I've seen a lot of glorious lightning displays but this was up there with the best. Blinding strobe light flashes were almost continuous, and the thunder rattled the windows and trees.

That sounds amazing, stargazer. I love outstanding lightning displays!

Keep cool, Jasmine!  

All the best with that insurance claim and repair, coracle!

Today is looking almost as dark as twilight as thunderstorms roar through our area. Warnings are out everywhere! Hail, lightning, thunder, flooding, rain-rain-rain. I love adventurous weather days (as long as everyone is safe)! And very hot today—97F including humidex, which is not hot to some, but is to us. Although it is not uncommon in July for us to have 104F with humidex, but thankfully we have not had many of those this month. And it's already half over, yay! The faster July goes, the better.  

We continue to have a very decent mixture of sun, cloud, and great rains. And on this dark, dark day, the gardens look, in contrast, as if they are shining with a spotlight, as so many brightly-coloured flowers are blooming now (coneflower, black-eyed Susans, phlox, wild flowers, daisies, hibiscus, sunflowers, and all the hanging baskets (cornflower, begonias, petunias, lantana).

Thankfully this mini heat wave seriously leaves by Wednesday, when we then have below seasonal temperatures, and back to walking temps in the early morning hours for me for three nights in a row, yay! That is almost unheard of here in July, so what a treat!

And as of today, we are 21 minutes shorter than the Summer Solstice (June 20)—mostly seen in the a.m. at this point, but the p.m. is starting to ramp down too, as we drop below the 9:00 pm sunset time tomorrow or the next day. 

Aaand here comes more thunder bringing in heavy rain.  

The shortening daylight is noticeable here too, especially in the morning (with the sun rising 24 minutes later this morning than on June 21). We're also just past the statistically warmest days of the year, with the average high having dropped to 83F (28C) from 84F (hey, every little bit helps 😉 )

After a few cooler days, the heat returns this weekend, with heat index values around 100F/38C.

The Canadian wildfire smoke has also returned over the past week, though it's nothing like it was last summer. But it has made for some spectacular sunsets, and the recently-full moon was a beautiful deep orange color. But the haze has been so thick only a couple of the brightest stars shine through.

Unlike the rest of the world setting heat records left and right, we've had a very mild summer in my neck of the woods.....with the single exception of the weekend my family went tent camping  

That's all changing this upcoming week. We have a whole lot of 103-106F highs this week, which is pretty standard for us. I think the last week of July into the first couple weeks of August tend to be our hottest.  

That is hot, hot, hot, fantasia! Glad the rest of summer has been much more manageable. Ours too! While we have had a few way too hot and humid days here and there, this summer and last year have been nothing like the two-three weeks that used to plague us—very hot, humid, no rain. Our rain last month continued (with much gratitude) regularly over the entirety of July. Hence, no fire bans, no brown grass; instead all lush and thriving. Now, on the first of August, more rain is expected off and on for the next four days.  

And, thankfully, my worst month is behind us. Good bye, July, until 2025. Now, looking forward to much more comfy temperatures beginning Sunday and at the least through next week, hurrah! Which includes cool nights (some near single digits Celsius), which means early morning walks again ... at least on the four mornings/week I don't swim!  

With all the rain, the corn was over knee-high on the fourth of July, and now, in many fields, is far above my head. Beautifully healthy looking!

Again, because of the very good balance of rain and sun this summer, our floral and veggie gardens continue to burgeon. We receive many kind comments on them, so we are glad they bring pleasure to folk even as they are walking or driving by, or visiting us around the campfire. Because there has been on fire ban, we have had a campfire with others every weekend last month, and hope to do the same all of August. And of course well into September.

The daylight hours are really beginning to change now, which I have been anticipating for awhile, as I can get out again on my early walks under the night sky and into the dawn.  

I read last week that our July was the rainiest on record:

6:16 PM - Wednesday, July 31, 2024 (from Ontario Instant Weather)

The rainiest month on record for Toronto continues…

As we close off the month of July, we are seeing more pop-up storms affecting the Greater Toronto Area this evening.

As of yesterday, July 2024 has become the rainiest month ever on record in Toronto. The monthly total stands at 215.4mm of rain. This overtakes the previous record rainiest month in October 1954 which is when Hurricane Hazel occurred!

We are sure not complaining! More rain arrived again last night, with even heavier falls forecast for today. Quite humid. Tomorrow welcomes a much fresher mass of air, with a mixture of sun and cloud, and below seasonal temperatures. Good timing, as we are enjoying a family gathering at our place tomorrow. Everything remains lush and vibrant - a real treat for early August (albeit a similar pattern to summer 2023). 🙂

After the coldest winter in 9 years, it looks like spring is about to be sprung, in three weeks or so's time, down here, south of the Equator. I'll enjoy not shivering with cold for a change. 

wagga. I'm glad you will be able to feel warm again. Until then, I hope you have a cozy hot water bottle!

This weekend for us takes in three words: rain, thunderstorms, and heat for the next four days, although the heat is gradually lessening. Next week will be in the comfortable low 20s Celsius (high 60s F), and at night ... woohoo, high single digits for at least three nights in a row. Grrreat walking weather! I am spying Autumn just around corner.  

On these interesting cloudy, darker days, our many bright flowers seem to simply shine!

I have lived through another summer. And survived!  

@waggawerewolf27 it's certainly been a proper winter down here too, and yesterday there was snow half an hour north of here.

I was glad with just rain, although there was a lot, and I won't be gardening today. 

We are in for a treat for the next few days. After storms much of the weekend, the temperatures have dropped to the late teens/low 20s Celsius (around 70) with no humidity whatsoever, and a good, stiff breeze. It's very cloudy today, contributing to that fresh Autumnal feel. The next three nights are going down to 9, 7, and 9 (around mid 40sF), which I am thrilled about. Early morning walking, here I come!

Later this week, and into the weekend, temps will bounce up a bit to the mid 20sC / 77F, with nights comfortable between 12 and 16. If we do have humidity again at this stage of late summer, it may be a day or two, but most likely no lengthy stretches anymore.