July 4th Forecast Update

 FastCast—Monday, July 4 to Friday, July 8:

A mostly cloudy July 4th is ahead for Western Washington. Expect highs in the mid to upper 60s and a chance of afternoon/evening showers from Seattle northward. Some showers may linger toward fireworks time. After the fireworks subside, there will be little wind to move out smoke, so some degraded air quality is possible. Calm weather will prevail for the remainder of the week. Expect partly to mostly cloudy conditions, with highs in the low to mid 70s, a slight chance of showers, and lows in the mid 50s. 

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July 4th will be drier than Sunday was across Western Washington, and will not have widespread thunderstorms like Sunday in Eastern Washington. It will be mostly cloudy and warmer for most of the state on the 4th, as seen in the NAM forecast below.

Expect lowland highs in the upper 60s for the lowlands and the mid 70s to low 80s in Eastern Washington. It will be on the cool side along the coast, only reaching the upper 50s to low 60s. 

As we approach fireworks time, clouds will break up a bit across the region, as seen in the NAM cloud cover forecast for 11 PM.

Mostly cloudy conditions are expected for the northern half of the state, with a chance of showers from Seattle northward on the west side of the Cascades. 

The only weather that could impact fireworks is the lack of wind. That is shown on the HRRR forecast below for 12 AM Tuesday, as fireworks are ending and residual smoke remains.

Downslope winds will impact parts of Eastern Washington, with gusts up to 30-40 mph in the Kittitas Valley and areas near and SE of Wenatchee. Meanwhile, there will be very light winds around Puget Sound, making it possible for firework smoke to remain in place longer, potentially degrading air quality.

Enjoy a not-too-hot, not-too-cold Fourth for Western Washington and overall pleasant weather for Eastern Washington!