A heat wave that broke several records in Western Washington this weekend should be over, meteorologists said Sunday.
High temperatures in the interior of Western Washington will be about 10 degrees cooler Monday afternoon than Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.
“We’ve got marine air already on the coast, and some of that will trickle in (today) so we’ll start to cool down,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Danny Mercer.
New daily high temperatures were set Sunday at Sea-Tac Airport, Olympia and Bellingham, according to the National Weather Service.
Olympia hit 94, bettering the 2008 record of 90. Sea-Tac reached 93, beating a 1977 record of 89. Bellingham beat its 1977 record of 84 by one degree.
Sunday’s high at the Tacoma Narrows Bridges was 91. The National Weather Service doesn’t keep historical data for that station.
A heat advisory Sunday afternoon encouraged Tacoma-area residents to drink water, wear lightweight and loose-fitting clothing, and be on the lookout for symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke for the rest of the day. The National Weather Service also issued the alert for the east Puget Sound lowlands, southwest interior, and the Seattle, Bremerton and Hood Canal areas.
The scorcher of a weekend was caused by wind coming off the land instead of the water, National Weather Service meteorologist Dennis D’Amico said.
“A couple times a summer we get something called offshore flow … and that caused us to get hot,” he said. “That doesn’t happen a whole lot, and if it does, it usually happens for a couple days, like in this case two days for this weekend. Then we get the switch back to winds off the water.”
For this week, residents can expect typical summer weather, D’Amico said.
“Pleasant, but no heat waves in the picture,” he said.
Further heat waves in Western Washington are possible through August, but not much past that, according to the National Weather Service.
“We are certainly getting pretty late in the year to run into more 90s,” D’Amico said.
alexis.krell@thenewstribune.com
253-597-8268
blog.thenewstribune.com/crime
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.