Also took some photos as I flew in to PDX from London yesterday. Different angle than I’m used to

just saw some huge lightning strikes looking towards th west hills and rolling thunder

Good morning! There is a strong smell of smoke here this morning and it is very hazy as well. The current temperature here is 68 with a DP of 59. Here in my yard I had a high yesterday of 99.5 that would be rounded up to 100. At GRR a new record high for July 15th was set at 96 breaking the old record of 95. Today the looks to continue to have widespread smoke so it will be hazy and there will be the smell of smoke in the air not a good day to be outside. The high is forecasted to be 95 but I wonder if the smoke will keep it down a few degrees. Tonight smoke will continue with a low around 70 Friday looks to be another hot day with highs in the mid 90’s Friday night looks to be very warm with a low in the mid 70’s Saturday there is a chance of some showers with a high in the upper 80’s. Sunday and Monday the sun is back out with highs in the upper 80’s and lows in the 60’s There is chance of showers on Monday night into Tuesday and a good cool down with highs in low 80’s and lows in the upper 50’s Detailed Forecast Today Widespread smoke. Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 95. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph in the afternoon. Tonight Widespread smoke. Partly cloudy, with a low around 70. Northwest wind around 6 mph becoming light and variable. Friday Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 94. Heat index values as high as 97. Light and variable wind becoming south southwest 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon. Friday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. Southwest wind 6 to 9 mph. Saturday A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 11am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 89. West southwest wind 9 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Saturday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 62. Sunday Sunny, with a high near 87. Sunday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 64. Monday Mostly sunny, with a high near 87. Monday Night A chance of thunderstorms before 8pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm between 8pm and 2am, then a chance of showers after 2am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 66. Tuesday A chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. Tuesday Night A chance of showers. Mostly clear, with a low around 59. Wednesday Sunny, with a high near 81. The official H/L yesterday at Grand Rapids was 96/76 that 96 is a new record for July 15th there were 20 CDD’s and there was no rainfall, The highest wind gust was 28 MPH out of the W. Reported weather conditions were haze. For today the average H/L is 83/63 the record high of 97 was in 1894 and 2012 the coolest high of 71 was in 2014 the record low of 42 was in 1942 the warmest low of 76 was in 1931 the most rainfall of 1.74” was in 1988. Last year the H/L was 88/69 and there was 0.28” of rainfall. Some weather history for July 16th 1988, Thirty-seven cities in the eastern U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date. Highs of 96 degrees at Bluefield, WV, and 104 degrees at Charleston WV were all-time records, and afternoon highs of 98 degrees at Binghamton, NY, 99 degrees at Elkins, WV, and 103 degrees at Pittsburgh PA, tied all- time records. Highs of 104 degrees at Baltimore, MD, and 105 degrees at Parkersburg WV were records for July, and Beckley, WV, equalled their record for July with a high of 94 degrees. Martinsburg, WV, was the hot spot in the nation with a reading of 107 degrees. Afternoon and evening thunderstorms raked the northeastern U.S. with large hail and damaging winds. (The National Weather Summary)

Yea, I see them too. I'm a little surprised the heavy shower to my NE isn't showing lightning even though there is some reds in the shower

First time for this in my life!