Western Washington cools down after blistering midweek heat
Jun 13, 2019, 8:45 AM | Updated: 12:26 pm
Things are set to cool down throughout Western Washington late in the week. (National Weather Service)
(National Weather Service)
After record-breaking heat was recorded across all of Washington on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday should mercifully see things cool down.
Heat wave shatters records across Puget Sound region
Record high temperatures were seen in SeaTac, Seattle, Olympia, Bellingham, Quillayute, and Hoquiam on Wednesday, topped by SeaTac’s 95-degree day. In Seattle, the weather got so hot that a road in SoDo even buckled.
Summary of record highs today 6/12:
SeaTac AP 95-was 85 in 1999
Seattle NWS 90-was 79 in 2002
Olympia 93-was 86 in 2002
Bellingham 85-was 84 in 1999
Hoquiam 84-was 83 in 2002
Quillayute 85-ties 85 in 2002 #wawx— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) June 13, 2019
Things are set to reel back in to more reasonable levels Thursday, with highs throughout Western Washington diving down under 80 degrees around the Puget Sound area, and under 70 along the coast.
UW climate scientist Cliff Mass predicts the cooldown to occur “in steps,” buoyed by a push of marine air that began Wednesday night. That push has Thursday temperatures in the region dropping 7 to 9 degrees, and then down into the mid-70s on Friday.
“Just perfect,” Mass stated in a recent blog post.
He also noted that barring any new incidents, the air will be clean through the rest of the week, “with no significant fires around the region — in contradiction to what some scaresters have been saying.”
That said, he also pointed out that with winds picking up late Thursday, “folks will have to be even more attentive then.”
Can Western Washington water its lawns this summer?
Mass has long been at odds with officials claiming that Washington is poised for a tough summer of wildfires.
“Unfortunately, we are likely to see even more significant fires and more significant smoke this year,” Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz told the Candy, Mike and Todd Show in May “Last year, we had 1,850 fires total. The most our state has ever had on record — 40 percent of those fires west of the Cascades. The season really got started in early May and went well through October.”
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