Okay, July Fourth is also Independence Day, on which we make the British look sheepish about their imperialist history and then blow our fingers off with fireworks. But for Northwesterners, as Cliff Mass reminds us, July Fourth is also the day that summer begins. (Right, sometimes it’s July Fifth.)

This year, says Mass, we can expect the Fourth to be “the transition day, but one that should be dry–particularly around fireworks time”–so be ready to fire up the grill. The big local event is the Family 4th at Lake Union, presented by Starbucks. Though the fireworks have to wait for dark, there’s fun planned for the whole day, beginning at 10 a.m. in Lake Union Park and noon at Gas Works:

One Reel, the non-profit producer of the Family 4th, has collaborated with The Center for Wooden Boats and future South Lake Union resident Museum Of History & Industry (MOHAI) to link their event with another favorite summer tradition, the Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival.

With the Fourth behind us, “we transition to meteorological nirvana, as the persistent trough over the NW moves offshore and ridging develops over western North America,” adds Mass, in what certainly looks like English.

It’s that trough that brings in cool, cloudy air from the Pacific, so with it gone, things brighten up appreciably. The Climate Prediction Center provides the map above, in which oranges and reds indicate the probability of above-average temperatures. For most of the year, the Northwest has been on the bluer end of that scale, but finally we will have a chance to swelter a little, and make sotto voce disparagements of people who wear flip flops at inappropriate venues. Enjoy.