We will see some cloudiness for your Thursday, but that won’t stop the warming trend that could still threaten a record or two before the week is over. The ridge of high pressure building up over the west coast is sharp enough to allow some overrunning mid and high level clouds, but any precipitation will be well to our north. Temperatures will continue to climb into the mid-80s Thursday, with high near 90 Friday and Saturday, at or near record levels. Temperatures will back off a bit by the start of next week, but will stay warm in the mid-80s.

Here’s a question that a surprisingly large number of people get wrong: Let’s say you take a thermometer and wrap it in a heavy blanket, and place it outside overnight right next to an identical thermometer outside of the blanket. How much higher will the thermometer inside the blanket read in the morning?

Here’s the answer: Not any higher at all. A blanket will not warm up a thermometer unless you heat up the blanket beforehand, and then only for a short period of time. So why do we feel warmer if we get under a down comforter? Answer tomorrow.