Heat Wave Begins & Large Wildfires in the North Cascades

Wednesday, which ended up being a couple degrees warmer than predicted, was the start of the next heat wave in the Pacific Northwest. Below are Wednesday's high temperatures in the Central Puget Sound area.

Most locations south of Seattle reached the mid-upper 80s, with a few locations east of I-5 hitting 90 degrees. North of Seattle, highs peaked in the low-mid 80s, and in Eastern WA and Portland, temperatures were in the 90s.

Temperatures in the upper 80s to low 90s will become more widespread across the Puget Sound area on Thursday and Friday. Below is the Weather Underground forecast for Federal Way.

Thursday and Friday will likely be the hottest days of July. Highs in the upper 80s to low 90s are likely, a bit cooler near the water and hotter in the valleys & foothills. Additionally, low temperatures of 58-65 degrees are likely from Thursday night to Sunday night.

Temperatures drop to the mid 80s on Saturday, and by Sunday we’re back to the lower 80s. High clouds moving around the periphery of a ridge will keep us cloudy on Sunday and Monday.

Friday will likely be hottest day of this heat wave, with temperatures in the upper 80s to potentially mid 90s across Western Washington. Below is the NWS HeatRisk for Friday.

A moderate to high HeatRisk is likely for Western Washington, highest in the foothills and valleys. 

Besides the heat, a major concern right now is the two large fires burning in the North Cascades. These are the Cedar Creek Fire (35,685 acres, 13% contained) and the Cub Creek 2 Fire (52,832 acres, 18% contained). 

Below is the InciWeb map of these two fires. Cedar Creek is on the left (west of Winthrop) and Cub Creek is on the right (north of Winthrop).

The most concerning aspect of this situation is the eastward spread of the Cedar Creek Fire toward Sun Mountain Lodge and the town of Winthrop. The fire is less than 2 miles from Sun Mountain Lodge, which is evacuated and closed until further notice. The zoomed in map below shows the proximity of the east edge of the Cedar Creek Fire to Sun Mountain Lodge (blue circle) and the town of Winthrop (red oval).

This is an evolving and likely worsening situation, and the weather isn’t expected to help. Temperatures in the 90s, humidity of 15-30%, and winds up to 30 mph are expected in the next few days. The fire will likely continue to spread for the foreseeable future. I'll have updates about this situation in future blogs.

The Cub Creek 2 Fire is having a lesser impact overall, but has burned over 50,000 acres in only 12 days.

The Lodge webcam image below shows the fire actively burning on the far left of the image, disturbingly close to the lodge.

You can stay updated with the latest information regarding these fires by clicking below:

Cedar Creek Fire-InciWeb

Cub Creek 2 Fire-InciWeb

Sun Mountain Lodge Webcam

Stay tuned and stay cool! Potential chances of showers/thunderstorms may exist in the next few days, but more on that in the next blog.