I’ll be updating the details of the forecast on Twitter at @growingwisdom Please follow me there. Feel free to comment or ask questions too.

 

One of the many reasons I love Maine, and there are many, is that when southern New England is enduring a week or more of 90F + weather, parts of coastal Maine, including Portland, are still “only” in the 80s.  Now, upper 80s with high humidity will certainly feel hot today and throughout the weekend, but we will not have an official heat wave in the city. However, if you are over interior York, Cumberland and Oxford Counties temperatures will be at or slightly above 90F into the weekend for an official heat wave in that part of the state.

Sunshine will be blazing across the area and if you are outside there are two must haves.  With the lack of an extended stretch of sunny weather so far this summer, some of you may be in the sun the first time today through the weekend.  Sunscreen is only good for about an hour so you have to put it back on frequently.   The high humidity impacts your body’s ability to cool itself.  You can’t sweat as efficiently in this type of air and therefore heat exhaustion can happen. 

We can thank high pressure anchored around Bermuda for pumping the tropical conditions into the region.  If you have any plans outside the day will be hot.  The southwest wind will blow slightly cooler air at south facing beaches.  All along the immediate coast temperatures will be in the upper 70s to mid 80s depending on exactly which direction the beach faces.  You may feel the cool ocean breeze for an hour only to have it replaced by a warmer land breeze a few minutes later.

If you are headed to Fenway Park for today’s game it will be sweltering with the temperature easily in the lower 90s.  For the players in the hot sun in the middle of that field I would suspect a temperature closer to 98F.

Tonight in Portland for the fireworks I expect ideal conditions with temperatures in the lower 80s this evening falling back to the middle 70s for the conclusion of the fireworks.   Don’t forget the bug spray!  The wet weather has left ideal conditions for mosquitoes and they are biting like crazy around dusk.

Showers are going to be non-existent today, but there could be a few firing up in the mountains  if you are hiking.

While the entire weekend should be rain free, there could be a few subtle changes early next week that bring back the chance for showers and storms in the Monday/Tuesday timeframe.   Drier air will slowly work south into southern Maine later next week for a break from all the humidity.  Happy Birthday America!

Gardening this week Are you growing tomatoes this year? If you haven’t gotten a tomato plant yet there is actually still time, you might not have tomatoes until late August or early September, but you can still plant. This week, I have a video about my rescue of a tomato plant and how to grow them in containers.

I’ll be updating the details of the heat and humidity on Twitter at @growingwisdom Please follow me there. Feel free to comment or ask questions too.