WeatherWatcher: Moderate but short heat wave arriving late in the week

Sunny Skies over the Olympics from Richmond Beach Saltwater Park.
Photo by Carl Dinse

Forecast: Sunny skies are expected to dominate for the foreseeable future. Even the long range forecasts out there don't show any threat of rain until near the end of the month. As for our short range forecast, there has been a lot of talk of a heat wave coming this week.

I wanted to break this down and clear up some rumors I've been hearing. For Tuesday-Wednesday we are expecting high temperatures near or just above 70°F, which is slightly above normal but not out of the ordinary for this time of year. Thursday starts to warm a little bit as our onshore flow changes over to an offshore flow. This means the winds will come from eastern Washington instead of from the ocean.

Temperatures Thursday could get into the mid to upper 70's. Friday is going to be our hottest day, where we are looking at breaking the 80°F mark by 1-2 degrees. Cooler air begins to move back in with an ocean breeze Saturday afternoon so our high temperature might make it to 80°F, but will likely come back down into the low 70's quickly in the late afternoon or evening hours.

Sunday and beyond looks pleasant, with lows in the upper 40's to low 50's and highs in the upper 60's to low 70's with continued sunny skies.

Bottom Line: Sunny weather, slightly above normal temperatures for most of the week, with a 48 hour-long offshore wind-induced heat wave Thursday evening through Saturday afternoon.

Forecasts written for Seattle are typically written for what is expected at SeaTac airport, since that is the official recordkeeping station for the region. When I write weather forecasts for Shoreline Area News I'm writing what I expect to occur in this area. For several reasons SeaTac typically runs several degrees warmer than we do in most regional weather scenarios.

For current weather conditions visit www.shorelineweather.com