It's about time! After weeks of June gloom with a few teases, summer is finally here. "Solstice" is latin for "sun standing" and, for the last six months, the sun has been climbing further and further into the northern sky. The next few days it will look like it's not moving at all. Then, starting next week, each day it will slowly move south, until the winter solstice in six months when it appears to sit in the southern sky for several days.


With summer officially beginning at 4:09 this afternoon in the Pacific Time Zone, the days will get shorter and shorter from here. There's a long lag between the length of day and overall temperatures, so that's why we're warmer in July, August and September when we're losing a few minutes of daylight each day.

What does a typical summer look like in Portland? Well, that's mostly a matter of opinion, but I love summers in the Pacific Northwest. Let's just go by the numbers. Here are the average number of days at or above 90 degrees for select cities around the region: Seattle 3, Medford 54, Portland 13. So far this year, Portland has yet to hit 90 degrees. Our warmest day so far was 87 on May 13th. The record number of days 90 or above for the Rose City is 21, set back just a few years ago.


Things are looking very summery for the 2012 Summer Solstice--temps near 80 today and tomorrow. The weekend we get a reality check: back to temps between 65-70 with showers. Enjoy it while you can!