Record Heat on Tap + Thursday HVC Kitchen Forecast

This past Sunday, I headed up to Hidden Valley Camp, an old-school summer camp in the Cascade foothills of Snohomish County, WA for “Visitor’s Day,” a day where families of campers and other visitors can visit the camp and interact with campers and staff. I’m a longtime former HVC camper, camper-leader, and staff member (baker and group counselor), and over my years at HVC, I developed a reputation as a weather forecaster, so many of my visitor’s day conversations revolved around the fact that HVC had received NO rain the entire summer. Much to their dismay, I told them that not only did I see no rain for at least the next week, but that this week could be one of the hottest weeks in camp history.

As a former kitchen staff, I was particularly concerned about Thursday, because Thursday lunches are grilled cheese sandwiches, and the kitchen gets extremely hot and humid when you make 400-500 grilled cheese sandwiches there. So for this blog, I’ll forecast the weather for HVC kitchen Thursday afternoon.

Pattern Overview:

We currently have large upper-level ridge centered just off the West Coast, giving us sunny skies and warm temperatures. This ridge will gradually move inland over the Pacific Northwest throughout this week and strengthen in the process, warming temperatures dramatically both at the surface and aloft. I’ve talked about “thermal troughs” – areas of thermally-induced surface low pressure extending northward from California/Nevada into the I-5 corridor – in previous “heat wave” posts, as they are responsible for all of our record breaking heat waves in the summer and autumn. And lo and behold, this heat wave will feature one of the most textbook thermal troughs I’ve ever seen in my model-watching career.

Tuesday will be hot, but the record heat begins Wednesday and lasts through Friday as the thermal trough strengthens and centers directly over the area, with Thursday being the hottest day for most. Our thermal trough will very slowly shift eastward throughout the weekend, resulting in a painfully slow cooldown from record-breaking heat Wednesday-Friday to good ol’ fashioned summertime heat by Sunday. An excessive heat warning for areas south of Everett goes into effect 2 pm Tuesday and lasts through Friday evening,  with peak temperatures in the upper 90s and lower 100s likely in the Puget Sound area and widespread 105+ highs in the Willamette Valley. Needless to say, fire danger is extremely high, and red flag warnings are in effect for the Cascades and lowlands from Longview south until Thursday night (they will likely be extended).

HVC Kitchen Forecast:

10:15 am: Kitchen staff arrive to begin cleaning/preparing for Thursday’s lunch. Outside temp is approximately 85 degrees, kitchen is about the same.

11:00 am: Outside temperature continues to rise to 87 degrees, but kitchen remains in rough lock-step with ambient temperature because the processes done so far (cutting vegetables, cleaning, etc.) don’t require an external heat source. We would usually be baking bread and cookies at this time, but we don’t make bread on grilled-cheese day and I have the feeling the kitchen staff opt for something cooler for Thursday’s desserts, such as ice cream, jello, or fresh fruit.

11:30 am: One hour from lunch. We start making grilled cheese sandwiches. Interior temperature and humidity begins to climb as heaps of margarine vaporize on contact with the stove. Outside temperature 88 degrees, inside temperature 91 and climbing.

12:15: Waiter’s bugle. There is now a large temperature discrepancy between the kitchen and the dining hall, with the kitchen at approximately 105 degrees (and very humid) while the adjacent dining hall is at 90 degrees and relatively dry. The shuffling of waiters through the kitchen should help generate some circulation, perhaps resulting in a very small (less than a degree) decrease in the kitchen temperature.

12:30: Lunchtime. The kids and counselors gobble up their grilled cheese sandwiches in an HVC-second, and roll into the kitchen for more. Grilled cheeses are still being made, and the temperature of the kitchen will remain constant in the mid 100s while the outside temperature inches into the lower 90s.

12:45: Grilled cheeses stop being made, kitchen begins to cool into the lower 100s.

1:30: Lunch is over, and “Rest Hour” begins. The kitchen will have likely cooled back into the upper 90s by this point, and outside temps will climb to 93 or so. The kids go back to their tents, and tents exposed to sunlight (the B4 tent in particular) will likely be in the triple digits if the tent flaps have not been rolled up.

I’ll have a more detailed forecast for Portland with tomorrow’s blog. In the meantime, check out blogs from Karl Bonner (The Dalles, OR), Mark Ingalls (St. Anthony, ID), and Wachi Suyaruenkaew (Seattle, WA) on this historic heat wave.

Thanks for reading! And if you are interested in HVC, check it out at http://www.hvc-wa.com/. From 10-year old camper to a group counselor of 10-year olds, HVC has played a significant role in my development as an individual, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Charlie