Hot Late August Day, Smoke Aloft, and the Big Cooldown

FastCast—Thursday, Aug. 25 to Monday, Aug. 29:

A hot day (by late August standards) is ahead on Thursday. Highs around the lowlands will reach the upper 80s to low 90s across Western Washington and the Willamette Valley. Eastern Washington will reach the upper 80s to upper 90s. There will be some smoke aloft in Western Washington (as there was on Wednesday) due to fires in British Columbia. There will be some surface smoke in the Cascades and in parts of Eastern Washington due to fires in BC and the Cascades. Air quality may suffer, but not greatly. A big cooldown is in store for Western Washington on Friday, with temperatures dropping into the low to mid 70s! It will be a dramatic change from Thursday. A slight chance of showers is possible on Saturday, with highs in the low 70s. Clouds decrease and temperatures rise back to the mid 70s on Sunday and then to the low 80s on Monday. Stay tuned for more information on the potential for weekend showers and another warmup next week.

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Continue reading the full blog below!

An abnormally warm day is expected around Washington on Thursday. The NAM forecast for high temperatures is below.

Expect highs for most of Western Washington to be in the upper 80s to low 90s, except in the low 80s near the water. The coast will reach the low 60s to low 70s, and Eastern Washington will reach the upper 80s to upper 90s. This has been typical weather over the past few weeks, but with average highs around the mid 70s, temperatures in the low 90s are quite abnormal.

As there was on Wednesday, haze will be present aloft in Western Washington due to British Columbia wildfires. The HRRR smoke forecast at 12 PM Thursday is below.

While haze will be light, it will be noticeable, especially in the Bellingham area, closer to the wildfires. Light surface smoke with potential impacts to air quality is possible in Eastern Washington due to small fires in the Cascades. 

A big change is ahead on Friday, with temperature taking a big tumble to the 70s, as seen in the NAM forecast below.

On Friday, expect lowland highs in the low 70s, in the low 80s in the Willamette Valley, and in the 60s on the coast. However, temperatures will remain hot, reaching the low to mid 90s, except the upper 90s around the Tri Cities.

The 24-hour temperature change from 5 PM Thursday to 5 PM Friday in the NAM forecast below.

Temperatures will be 10-20 degrees cooler than Thursday in Western Washington, and a bit cooler in parts of Eastern WA as well.

Stay tuned for more information about a chance of showers on Saturday!