Seattle weather forecast for July 4 weekend: Mostly dry
Jun 28, 2016, 10:10 AM | Updated: 1:50 pm
The Olson Kundig architecture firm will place a giant ice cube in Seattle's Occidental Park this September. (AP)
(AP)
There’s a very slim chance that Seattle’s weather will be anything but warm and dry for July 4.
Things are expected to cool down by Saturday, with daytime highs in the mid-70s and nighttime lows dropping to the mid-50s.
As things continue to cool, a few sprinkles become possible on July 4, KIRO 7’s Nick Allard reports. However, right now, he’s predicting that it will just be mostly cloudy and mainly dry with temperatures during the day in the mid-70s.
Where to watch a fireworks show in Western Washington
Though rain would put a bit of a damper on weekend fun, it wouldn’t be the worst thing for a region where firework bans are becoming more common and wildfires are becoming increasingly problematic during the summer months. Marysville and Brier are among the most recent cities to approve bans, which will take effect in 2017.
Washington has dealt with major wildfires two years in a row. First, it was the Carlton Complex of fires in 2014, scorching more than a quarter million acres in Central Washington, and taking with it over 300 homes from. Just a year later, the Okanogan complex of fires ripped through north-central Washington and nearly broke the record for the size of a single fire set the year before. By summer’s end, flames ravaged more than a million acres across the state. At $374 million dollars, it was the most expensive fire season in Washington, ever.
Wildland fire training begins this week, where more than 800 firefighters are expected to prepared for the wildfire season. Basic and advanced wildland firefighting skills will be taught to about 300 firefighters at the Western Washington Interagency Wildfire Training Academy in Rainier.
About 500 firefighters from Eastern Washington will gather at the same time at their training academy in Deer Park, Washington.
Both academies are a joint operation of the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Forest Service and several western Washington county fire districts.
DNR says it had 8,500 personnel fighting fires in August and the department still had to request assistance.
There have already been a few wildfires this year, including a fire near Gold Bar that burned several hundred acres.
University of Washington Professor Cliff Mass points out that parts of Washington recently dodged a meteorological bullet recently as well. The thunderstorms that rattled the Puget Sound region could have done some damage with its subsequent lightning strikes. Though there was plenty of lightning over Western Washington, there was very little over the eastern slopes of the Cascades and Northwest Washington; areas more prone to wildfires.
Thankfully, if current forecasts hold true, first responders will only have to worry about man-made fires during this Fourth of July weekend.
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