SPOKANE, Wash. — After our fair share of the "June gloom," the summer weather will return in full by this weekend, which is both the first day of summer and Father's Day.
The swift change in temperatures this week is simply because the jet stream is pushing a deep layer of cold air, which is currently on top of Washington right now, to the east. This will bring the warmer more typical June weather by the time we get to the weekend.
Spokane will easily see temperatures in the 80s, with mostly sunny skies in the forecast both days.
The Summer Solstice, which marks the official beginning of the summer season, occurs at 2:43 p.m. on Saturday, June 20. This is the moment when the Earth is tilted the farthest towards the Sun in orbit (for the Northern Hemisphere.)
For the mid-latitudes, this is the day the sun will appear the highest in the sky. It's also the day with the longest duration of daylight of the year. In Spokane, the sunrise is at 4:51 a.m. and sunset is 8:51 p.m. That gives us 16 hours of daylight!
