By Gordon McCraw, Meteorologist for Tillamook County Pioneer
I know I sound like a stuck record but, not much is changing the next few days other than the ridge of high pressure to the east, over the Rockies, is slowly building and will continue to influence our forecast through Friday. So, after another sunny, breezy day, we see another mostly clear night with the winds easing, and the low near 52.
Tomorrow is another sunny day with the afternoon winds becoming northwesterly 8-12 gusting to 18, the high near 72, then back comes the mostly clear night, light winds, lows near 53.
Thursday and Friday look to be the same, sunny with the northwesterly winds 5-10 gusting to 15, the highs up near 72, and partly cloudy nights, lows near 53.
It looks like the ridge to the east will move off which allows another ridge to build to our west and move over the area which pushes up our afternoon high temperatures a few degrees. Over in the valley where they will not have the onshore flow to moderate their temperatures, highs will be into the low to mid 90s over the weekend. Here, on the west side of the Coast Range, we will enjoy sunny days with highs up near 74 on Saturday and up around 76 on Sunday, the lows under partly cloudy nights, only down to near 56.
Monday also looks mostly sunny and 74.
Once in a Blue Moon
This I first posted on my Gordon’s Weather Center Facebook Page…but thought I would include it here in case you missed it!
Well, I have gotten an inquiry about the two “Super Moons” taking place in August, one a “Super Blue Moon”. First, to answer, “What is a supermoon?” These happen when the moon is full during the closest point in its orbit around the planet earth, about 226,000 miles. This makes the moon look about 8% bigger and about 16% brighter.
The first super moon, known as a “Sturgeon Moon” is today, Tuesday, August 1st, at 11:31 AM. This got its name from Native American tribes that found that sturgeons from the Great Lakes were more readily caught at this time of the summer. The last one was on July 3rd.
The second event, is a “Blue Super Moon”, though not blue in color, and more rare, will peak on Wednesday, August 30th, at 6:35 PM. Some think it is called a Blue Moon because it means something rare, originating from a volcanic eruption that made the moon appear blue. This event should be extra bright as the moon will only be around 222,043 miles from earth, about 17,000 miles closer than average. Blue Moons occur about every 2 ½ years but the last blue supermoon occurred in December 2009 and the next one won’t be until August 2032.
It is also rare to have two super moon events in the same month. So, in this case, “Once in a Blue Moon” will not apply!