Seattle weather: Record heat ahead this weekend

A picture perfect 4th of July Holiday today! Sunny skies and highs in the upper 70s and low 80s earlier this afternoon.

Skies will remain clear overnight as we enjoy dazzling fireworks displays around our area. Temperatures will be near 70 during the time the fireworks are lit off. Overnight we will drop into the 50s. This will be our last cooler night for a while as the heat settles in this weekend. 

We will turn up the heat a little more beginning tomorrow as spots will warm into the upper 80s. There are many locations like Olympia, Shelton and Centralia along with our Cascade Foothills which will see 90s beginning tomorrow. 

A heat wave is forecast to settle into the Pacific Northwest beginning on Friday-Tuesday. A Heat Advisory has been issued for most of western Washington and Northeast Washington. An Excessive Heat Warning has been issued for areas around Central Washington, Spokane, Pullman, Kelso, Portland, and the Columbia River Gorge. The risk of heat-related illnesses will be elevated this weekend, so make sure you are drinking plenty of water and finding ways to stay cool.

Puget Sound will see some of the warmest temperatures so far this season beginning Friday. Record heat is forecast for Sunday and near-record warmth for Monday and Tuesday. 

In addition to the record heat during this heat wave, parts of Washington will see an elevated fire risk. A Fire Weather Watch will go into effect on Saturday morning through Sunday evening. 

Relief from the heat will slow. We are forecasting three days straight of 90 degree temperatures in metro locations. We will start to back off the heat a bit by the middle of the week, but even with temperatures in the low to mid 80s, that is still almost 10 degrees warmer than average.