An ideal combination has our region roasting under a mostly sunny sky today - even though it's September 10th!

The setup that's pumping up our temperatures... A large upper-level ridge has pushed in aloft, so air is sinking toward the surface, and warming as it goes. This allows a thermal trough to develop as far west as the coast; that's the first critical step. Once that trough is established, winds begin pushing in out of the east. Those easterly breezes push air down the windward sides of the Cascades - and as the air sinks, it warms up...and inundates the valleys and the metro area. Voila, temperatures soar to near 95 today in Portland!

If you're thinking of soaking up some of this hot sunshine today, don't forget the sunscreen. Even though the sun is getting lower and lower in the sky as summer wraps up - and so the sun is not quite as strong - there is still a huge amount of UV-radiation making it to the Northwest. In fact, today's UV-index is a 6 - considered to be high by the EPA.

Most people will burn in as little as 30 minutes with a UV-index of 6 - unless you put on some sunscreen. An SPF of 4 means it'll take about 120 minutes to burn...an SPF of 8 gives you 240 minutes... Basically you multiply the normal 'burn-time' by the SPF number to see how long you can 'safely' stay out in the sun.

To keep track of the UV-index for your zip code, check out this EPA website.

Good luck staying cool today...and tomorrow! Relief is on the horizon - by week's end, highs will only be near 80.

Joe M.