OK ... Where are the 90s?

I've resisted getting sucked into this "where are the 90s?" talk, because I figured that was a foolproof way of triggering an all-out heat wave.

But we're approaching the end of July, and it appears almost certain that we'll finish the month with only four 90-degree days.

Clouds and rain, possibly heavy, are likely Wednesday, for the last day of the month.

That will give us a grand total of eight 90-degree days so far this summer -- four each in June and July. We had 23 days of 90 or hotter at this point last year, and that wasn't a terribly unusual summer.

So I'm game ... where are the 90-degree days?

I was looking at some long-range forecasts for August, and while I'll focus more on that tomorrow or Thursday, suffice to say that there are no major changes in sight.  It looks like we'll continue the current pattern for a week or two, then perhaps slide back into a real stormy and wet period (similar to late June and early July).

We certainly won't tie the all-time record for fewest 90-degree days. That mark is eight, set in 1967. We're already there, and it's not reasonable to expect we won't get another 90-degree day this summer. That also probably puts the No. 2 mark (nine, in 2003) and the No. 3 mark (11, in 1910) out of reach.

But we might be somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 to 14 days of 90 or warmer this summer, and that would be in the top 10 (or bottom 10) of 90-degree days in Charlotte.