Dog Gone It, It's Hot!

SEATTLE - You probably don't need a thermometer to know we're squarely into the Dog Days of Summer, but just in case you do have one, it certainly read over 90 degrees Friday afternoon -- or perhaps even over 100 -- as western Washington endures its hottest heat wave since 1998.

A strong thermal trough has moved into our area. This is what pulls our winds in from the east, which not only holds our cool ocean seabreezes at bay, but also as that wind comes down the Cascade mountains, it compresses and gets even warmer.

In addition, aside from the east-wind heating, a hot air mass is also pushing up from the Desert Southwest, giving the heat wave a little extra oomph.

Here are some of the official high temperatures today:

Vancouver (WA): 104
Portland: 104
Shelton: 102
Kelso: 100
Olympia: 100
Bremerton: 99
Seattle: 97
Renton: 97
Tacoma: 97
Arlington: 93
Friday Harbor: 92
Hoquiam: 90
Everett: 90
Forks: 89
Port Angeles: 89
Bellingham: 88

Eastern Washington was over 100 in many spots, and you look at that list and see a lot of places that don't get hot even during heat waves (Friday Harbor, Port Angeles, Hoquiam) really sweltering today.

The record high for Seattle was 94, so it's been broken. In fact, 97 makes it the hottest day since it hit 97 on July 28, 1998. Olympia's record high is also history with their 100-degree reading, breaking the old record of 96. Hoquiam's 90 also broke their record high of 89.

Those triple digit readings around Portland are also all records, with Hillsboro, Oregon tying their all-time record high with a 108-degree reading Friday.

An "Excessive Heat Warning" remains in effect through Saturday evening, which basically means, hey, it's going to be hot, and to take precautions to stay cool and to not overheat.

How Hot Is It Now?

Check this image below for the latest current temperature, updated once an hour at roughly 10 minutes past:

If you don't see your city listed, you can try this link as well.

What's With The 'Dog Days of Summer Bit?'

You've probably heard the term usually used to denote the hottest time of the year. But what do dogs have to do with it? Is it because they have to pant to cool off or something?

Not quite. It's more of a celestial origin.

Back in the ancient days, observers along the Mediterranean Sea used to follow Sirius, which is the brightest star in the nighttime sky and part of the constellation known as "The Big Dog" (when translated to English.) Thus, it was known as "the dog star."

On July 23, the star rises and sets with the sun, and the ancients believed the star was so bright, it gave off heat and added to the sun's warmth to make the days even hotter. Thus, the term "Dog Days of Summer" came to mean the 20 days before and after this alignment -- July 3 to Aug. 11.

But as we near July 23, it may indeed turn out to be one of our hottest days of the year.

Great Segue -- What About This Weekend?

Saturday, it's more of the same, but it now looks like it'll be juuust a little bit cooler. It looks like the air mass will cool just a tad, and there might be some high clouds drifting north from a weak system in Oregon that could block out a few sun rays. Still, it'll be hard to notice as it's still well beyond sweltering by Seattle standards.

Temperatures Saturday are expected to reach the low 90s -- we're going 92 for Seattle. As usual, it's a little hotter away from Puget Sound and toward the foothills.

The coast -- especially the south coast -- could see some drastic cooling Saturday afternoon as the winds shift from northwest to southwest and blow the cool air off the ocean. This windshift will be moving north through the day.

Is This Going To Break Any Records?

Hmmm...originally we thought no. But, we were wrong.

As we said earlier, Seattle broke their record of 94 degrees set in 1994 with a 97 reading. Olympia also broke their record high of 96 with a whopping 100-degree reading.

Saturday and Sunday's records are still looking safe for now, though. The record highs for Seattle are 95 on Saturday, and 99 on Sunday. We're now thinking 92 for Saturday and under 90 for Sunday.

One "record" that we should at least tie, is pretty obscure. This will be the 5th consecutive weekend one or both days will have been 80 degrees or warmer. The last time that happened was in July and August of 1997.

Here's some other fancy hot weather tidbits, to point out that while long heat waves are rare, they can happen.

The record for consecutive days at 85 or hotter is 9 days, set twice (1977 and 1967.) The record for consecutive days at 90 or hotter is 5 days set in August 1981. Obviously we're not looking to get to these records, but if we somehow manage 4 days at 90 or better, that'd be second place.

On average, Seattle gets about 25 days a year that go over 80 degrees. 10 of those days will go over 85 degrees. Days that hit 90 or more are pretty rare, averaging just two per year, while a day over 95 occurs about once-every-other year.

This year, through July 19th, we've had 11 days at 80 or better, 6 days 85 or hotter, and just one day at 90 or hotter. It has not hit 95 since 2004 (actually, that featured back-to-back days at 95 or hotter), so I guess were' due this year.

Want To Escape The Heat? Try The Coast

If you really, really, want to avoid 90-degree weather, you can try heading to Newfoundland, or perhaps just take a drive over to the Washington Coast. It'll still be pretty toasty over there Friday and Saturday, but probably moreso mid-upper 80s than 90s, with the exception of Forks, which gets that same compressional heating scenario outlined above, only off the Olympic Mountains instead. So they are still a good bet to perhaps hit 90 or better. The San Juan Islands and Whidbey Island also tend to be somewhat cooler.

The coast also gets the cooling first when the thermal trough moves inland and the heat wave begins to end. So Sunday will be considerably cooler there -- perhaps 15-20 degrees cooler than inland areas. It's possible some of that cooling could get there Saturday evening -- especially the south coast since the thermal trough moves south to north.

I'm Stuck Here. What Can I Do To Stay Cool?

You've heard the usual ones: drink plenty of water, limit outdoor activity, don't leave pets or kids in the car -- even for a few minutes -- where it can get over 120 degrees.

But I've got a few tips I've tried when it gets really hot… especially for those who do not have air conditioning.

Don't use the stove. Plan dinners that maybe use the microwave, the outdoor grill, or just simple things like sandwiches. Or go out. Using the oven will only make your home hotter.

Don't use the dryer. Same theory as above. If you have a yard or can dry your clothes outdoors, that would work. Heat waves in the Northwest are a desert heat, so with the dry air, the water should evaporate in no time.

Keep the lights off. Unless you're using those fancy fluorescent lights, regular light bulbs also give off a decent amount of heat.

Keep a water spray bottle handy. If I'm feeling particularly hot, I spray my face and arms with a water bottle, then go stand in front of a fan. If you're going to the M's games this weekend, which are unfortunately day games on Saturday and Sunday, maybe bring an empty spray bottle, and then fill it with water once you get to the stadium (since you can't bring any liquids into Safeco Field.) Just be sure not to spray your seatmates…although they might ask to borrow it!

Some of our viewer tips e-mailed in yesterday include:

Soak your feet in a cold bucket of water, which lowers temperature

Use a frozen bag of vegetables to cool off.

To keep your house cool, generally most say to let the windows open during the cool part of the day and night, then close everything up and draw the shades when the sun gets going to keep the interior as cool as possible

Leave a box fan going if you have pets

Speaking of pets, don't forget these additional tips from the Humane Society:

"Even 10n minutes could be too long for a pet left in the car on a hot day. By then, the temperature inside the car could reach 160 degrees. Leaving the windows cracked will not cool the car enough to protect your pet.

Of course your dog, cat or other pet would like to go everywhere with you, but it’s best to park your pet at home."

(Got any other staying-cool tips, pets or people-wise? E-mail them to me at scotts@komotv.com, and I'll add in some of the best suggestions.)

Also, remember that if you do leave your windows open at night, to use a dowel or some sort of security measure to keep the window from opening all the way -- especially on lower floors.

How Long Does This Heat Last?

While the coast should begin to cool down Saturday night and Sunday, it'll probably take until Sunday night for that thermal trough to move to our east and for some of that marine air to make it into the inland I-5 corridor areas.

But even though with the thermal trough gone and with it, those heating easterly winds, the air mass will still be quite warm. So even with a little bit of our marine winds returning, we're still expecting above-normal temperatures for early next week, but moreso upper 70s and low 80s as opposed to the 90s.

And that might lead to at least 30% less panting from our four-legged friends :)

Stay cool out there!