The sun should return Saturday after lightning lit up the skies across Western Washington again Friday.
The accompanying thunderstorms also are behind us – for now – though showers are possible Sunday and Monday, according to forecasters for the National Weather Service.
“This is the summer of thunderstorms,” said Cliff Mass, a meteorologist at the University of Washington. “One of the most prodigious thunderstorm producers I’ve seen in years.”
Forecasters said an unusual pattern of low pressure keeps crossing the area, bringing thunderstorms with it.
It’s also affecting the temperatures. Although the average day has been in the 70s, Mass said temperatures in July are typically 10 degrees warmer than they have been.
Friday’s lightning sent Pierce County Public Works employee to the hospital after a lightning bolt hit the ground near where he was working.
The man, whose name was not released, was using a weed-eater about 8:15 a.m. when lightning struck a field at 198th Avenue East and Cascadia Boulevard, just south of Bonney Lake. He was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital, where he was reported to be in good condition.
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