It is a pretty simple three letter forecast for the next several days: HOT. A very strong ridge of high pressure centered in the southwestern quarter of the lower 48 states will keep our valley temperatures up in the upper 90s through mid-week before being tempered a bit (mid to lower 90s) for the second half of the work week through the weekend. Skies will be mostly sunny on Tuesday, but the heat will probably be enough to push up some afternoon cloudiness Wednesday and Thursday. It is doubtful that any of them will develop enough to produce any showers however.

We are now officially in the summer season. The Summer Solstice began Monday at 3:34 pm local time. The solstice occurs when the sun’s zenith is at its farthest from the equator, and can occur anywhere from June 20 to June 22, depending on the year and what time zone you reside. It also marks the longest day of the year, and this year is matched up with a full moon, which occurred Monday morning just after 4 am.

Tomorrow, I’ll have a few more fun facts about the official start of summer.