After Tuesday’s very warm temps all I can say is: “expect this to continue for most days in the coming week. Mainly sunny, with a few widely scattered showers on the weekend.”

Lack of rain, although great for outdoor recreation, will create very dry forests and greater potential for forest fires. Be very careful with campfires.

The recent warmer weather is a break from those cool weeks in May and early June. But is this a “heat wave”? The last week has been warmer than average, but not anywhere near record highs. So, let’s call it a “warm wave”.

The warm weather is due to a large ridge of high pressure that is stationary and forecast to remain so. Eventually it will break down and a typical ending often features thunderstorms. Hot and sunny days with little or no wind also result in rapid warming of the surface layer in our lakes. However, if one puts an arm deeper into the water, it is likely to be pretty chilly. Wind and resulting waves mix the warmer water downward and, typically, northern lakes have water temperatures in the 70s later in the summer. Water temps are now in the low 60s, except in smaller shallow lakes that have already reached the mid 70’s