We do have some cooling weather coming our way this weekend, with Friday’s high temperature dropping to the mid-90s and Saturday and Sunday’s to the low-90s, all under mostly sunny skies. But that cooling will bring breezy conditions, and kick up the fire danger to the Red Flag Warning level Friday and Saturday. Varying amounts of smoke and haze will also visit the area. As we head into the next week, the ridge builds back stronger, and temperatures will climb back to the triple digit mark by the middle of the week, all under mostly sunny conditions.

You may have heard that Reno recorded the hottest temperatures of any July on record, and indeed it did… a whopping 1.3 degrees above the second warmest July. But does that mean it was the hottest July we’ve had since records were kept? Well, didn’t I just say it was? Actually, no. I said Reno recorded the hottest temperatures, which isn’t exactly the same thing. While that may not make sense, let me explain.

In order to have a “pure and reliable” temperature record, two things have to happen. The location of the measuring device (thermometer) can’t move, and the conditions around said measuring device can’t change. Reno’s fails on both counts. I’ll explain more tomorrow.