Sub-80 temperatures finally arrive amid region’s driest time of the year

The streak is over – the consecutive days with high temperatures in the 80s that is. Spotty sprinkles coming from clouds above 10,000 feet held temperatures down in the 70s Sunday, bringing an end to the new record of 17 straight days at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) with highs reaching 80+.

The cooler temperatures Sunday will continue this week. Low-level onshore airflow from the Pacific Ocean is expected to maintain cooler, more seasonable temperatures through the week. Highs in much of the interior of Western Washington are anticipated to be in the 70s, though from Wednesday through Friday, locations like the south Sound and toward Portland as well as in the Cascade foothills may crack the 80-degree mark again. Lows will generally be in the 50s.

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The onshore flow will also tend to bring varying amounts of marine clouds each morning to the interior. The outer coast should have marine clouds each night and morning with the sun making an appearance during the afternoons. Highs along the coast are expected to reach only into the 60s.

During the latter part of the week, a weak weather system moving into British Columbia from the Gulf of Alaska may produce a few showers and possible thunderstorms in the North Cascades.

Otherwise, the dry weather is expected to continue this week. SEA has received no rain at all thus far this month and the last true appreciable rain fell on June 3, which was about a third of an inch. Abnormally dry or moderate drought conditions continue across much of the state.

Sprinkles fell across parts of Western Washington Sunday, but only trace amounts were reported. Dry conditions remain as the calendar moves into traditionally the driest time of the year – the third week of July through the first week of August. Going back more than 130 years into the 1890s, those are the dates when it has rained the least number of times.

Even with the cooler more seasonable temperatures, the environment is quite dry and wildfire conditions remain elevated. Last week, fire response crews had to douse several roadside fires. Fine fuels like grasses and shrubs are quite vulnerable to fire. Keep any burning materials within vehicles and avoid a large fine.

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Unfortunately, there are a number of wildfires burning in Oregon, Eastern Washington and British Columbia. Smoke from these fires began to move into Western Washington over the weekend at quite high levels creating a hazy look to the sky. On the other side of the coin, local air quality remains in the good category – at least for now. Everyone needs to do their part to retain that good air quality and avoid creating any local fires.

The dry weather this week is also favorable for the Seattle Mariners as they host division rival Los Angeles Angels through Wednesday. Looking ahead to this weekend, the Seafair Torchlight Parade in downtown Seattle also should have dry weather conditions with sunshine and temperatures in the 70s.

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.