Tuesday was potentially the hottest day of 2024 across parts of Washington. Sea-Tac Airport, Seattle's official record-keeping station, reached 98°, the 9th hottest day in Seattle history. Scroll to the bottom of the blog for a look at highs across the state on Tuesday.
Tuesday was the peak of this heat wave across Washington, with very hot temperatures for most of the region. Conditions will begin gradually cooling over the next few days, before likely warming up again this weekend. Additionally, fire danger will remain high across the region, but especially in Eastern Washington. There have also been many brush fires across Western Washington that have potential to spread quickly if not contained. This risk will continue for the foreseeable future. Let's take a look at the forecast.
First, let's take a look at the NWS NBM high-resolution forecast for highs on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, expect highs from Seattle north to reach the mid 70s to mid 80s, warmest away from the water. From Seattle south, highs will reach the mid to upper 80s. The Willamette Valley will reach the low to mid 90s. Eastern Washington will be scorching, with highs in the mid 100s to low 110s. The coast, however, will be quite nice, with highs only in the upper 60s to low 70s.
Hot temperatures will not be the only weather impact on Wednesday. As "cooler" marine air moves into parts of the region, winds will accelerate through the Strait of Juan de Fuca and through the gaps in the Cascades, spilling gusty winds into Eastern Washington. This will create a critical fire weather situation. Below is the European model forecast for peak winds on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, expect gusts of 20-25 mph for the entire region, with the Strait and Whidbey Island gusting 35-40 mph. Areas downwind of the Cascades, especially near the Columbia Gorge, Kittitas Valley, and south of Lake Chelan will gust 35-45 mph. This will create extremely dangerous conditions for any fires, especially with most of Eastern WA gusting 25-35 mph.
Below is the European model forecast for relative humidity on Wednesday afternoon. This paints a dangerous picture for fire weather conditions.
This forecast shows humidity dropping to dangerously low levels of 5-15% across most of Eastern Washington, with the Cascades and most of Western Washington also dropping to 20-35% humidity.
Due to these conditions, the NWS Storm Prediction Center (SPC) is warning of "elevated" fire weather conditions for Eastern Washington and Oregon on Wednesday.
This map, with interstate highways overlaid, shows a large area of "elevated" fire weather, stretching from Bend, OR, to Wenatchee, WA.
Existing fires, such as the Pioneer Fire (11,300 acres) on north Lake Chelan, the Shoofly Fire (100 acres) north of Stevens Pass, and the Larch Creek Fire (3,500 acres), south of The Dalles, will likely experience growth due to these conditions.
Switching gears to temperatures, let's take a look at lows on Thursday morning. For most of Western Washington, this will be quite refreshing.
On Thursday morning, lows will drop to the mid 50s to low 60s for the lowlands (warmest from Tacoma to Everett), and to the low to mid 50s on the coast. The Willamette Valley will drop to the mid 50s to low 60s, while Eastern Washington cools somewhat to the mid to upper 60s.
On Thursday, highs will continue to "cool" across the state, although even with the cooling, temperatures will still be above average.
On Thursday, highs from Seattle north will reach the mid 70s to low 80s, while areas from Seattle south will reach the low to mid 80s. The Willamette Valley will reach the mid to upper 80s (isolated low 90s), and the coast will remain comfortable in the mid 60s to low 70s. Eastern Washington will cool somewhat into the mid 90s to low 100s.
Friday will be about the same across the region, as seen below.
Friday will be a bit warmer than Thursday. Highs from Seattle north will reach the mid 70s to low 80s, while areas from Seattle south will warm to the mid to upper 80s. The Willamette Valley will increase to the upper 80s to low 90s, and Eastern Washington will remain hot, in the upper 90s to mid 100s. The coast will warm up a small bit, with highs increasing to the mid 60s to low 70s.
The weekend will be hotter, so stay tuned for more information about that and the overall extended forecast.
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High Temperatures--Tuesday, July 9, 2024:
Scroll through the screenshots below to take a look at high temperatures across Washington and northern Oregon on Tuesday. Many daily records were broken across the region!
It was a record-breaking day, one of the hottest in a few years across the region.
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