Dog days of summer have arrived in Washington

The calendar has rolled over into August, yet it feels much like July in Washington. Last month was a warm one for Seattle — the third warmest on record. The average of all high and low temperatures at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) was 69.8 degrees – the 12th straight July with above-normal temperatures.

July 2015 is the warmest on record at 71.2 degrees, followed by July 2018 at 70.7 degrees.

We are now in what is often called the “dog days” of August. This centuries-old phrase goes back to varied stories from the ancient Greeks, Egyptians and Romans tied to the rise of Sirius, by far the brightest start that follows Orion into the night sky.

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Also called the Dog Star, Sirius rises in the night sky in mid-July and is most prominent during August. These early civilizations blamed Sirius for the heat of the season. The Dog Star Sirius is 8.7 light years away from Earth and has no impact on Earth’s weather or temperature. Yet, those early civilizations saw the rise of the Dog Star and the hottest weather of the year as a cause and effect.

This week’s weather will continue the current stretch of warm dry weather felt in July. Tuesday will be the coolest day though with western interior highs reaching only the 70s after a morning of more extensive marine clouds.

Otherwise, this week will have plenty of sunshine with high temperatures mainly in the 80s. Shoreline locations like the islands in the North Sound should feel more comfortable in the 70s, while Cascade foothill locations and south of Olympia could crack the 90-degree mark. Low temperatures will range from the mid-50s to the mid-60s.

Strong high pressure aloft extending north from the four corners of the desert southwest to Eastern Washington is driving the ongoing warm dry weather.

Western Washington is flanked by wildfires up north in Western Canada, in Eastern Washington and Idaho, and in the south in Oregon, Nevada and California. Fortunately, nature’s air conditioning of cooler Pacific Ocean air moving inland with onshore flow is helping to keep wildfire smoke out of Western Washington, maintaining good air quality while also moderating temperatures from being even warmer.

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Later this week, a threat of thunderstorms will arise over the northern half of the Washington Cascades that could produce additional lightning and the potential for more fire starts.

The latest weather outlook extending into the third week of August maintains the ongoing warmer-than-average temperatures, bolstering the sense of the dog days of August.

Ted Buehner is the KIRO Newsradio meteorologist. You can read more of Ted’s stories here and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter.