Temperatures to soar in the Northwest again this week
By
Brian Thompson, AccuWeather meteorologist
Updated Aug 9, 2021 11:38 AM EDT
After the historic heat wave that baked the Northwest in late June, it looks like another hot stretch is on the way later this week.
It's already been a warm start to the month, with Seattle running about 2 degrees above average through Aug. 7. Portland is nearly 4 degrees above average. East of the Cascades, the difference is even greater. Yakima is 6.5 degrees above average for the month through the 7th.
While this does not look to be quite the magnitude of the June heat wave, it will still be a pretty remarkable stretch of hot weather, especially when you consider that two stretches like this are occurring in the same year.
The overall pattern is fairly similar to the late-June heat wave.
If you recall from the June heat wave, that large 594 contour on this upper-level map is an indication of a very strong and anomalous ridge in the Northwest. While it's common to see a ridge of that magnitude farther south across the Four Corners region, it is unusual to see that reach into the Pacific Northwest.
Assuming this ridge comes to fruition as currently forecast, it will mean more triple-digit heat across portions of western Washington and down through the Willamette Valley.
The map above is pretty remarkable to look at, but it doesn't look as extreme as the late-June event. So, we probably won't see Portland reach 116 degrees Fahrenheit again and Seattle shouldn't see 108 this time around.
Nevertheless, this is still a dangerous heat wave in an area not as accustomed to the extreme heat compared to areas farther south.
The hot stretch could last five to seven days, although the worst of the heat will be focused across Thursday and Friday.
Temperatures will gradually drop in the Northwest heading into the weekend as that massive ridge gets squashed back to the south with a trough approaching.
Elsewhere, after the recent break, the monsoon will start to reactivate this week. Precipitable water (a measure of the amount of moisture in the atmosphere) has been pretty low in recent days.
However, by the second half of this week, there will be a sizable surge in moisture.
The added moisture will combine with some pieces of energy moving around that giant ridge in the Northwest (look at the 500-mb chart earlier in the blog) to spawn fairly widespread showers and thunderstorms.
This will mean more beneficial rain for most places, but also the potential for too much water at once, which will lead to flash flooding in some places.
Report a Typo
Weather Blogs / Western US weather
Temperatures to soar in the Northwest again this week
By Brian Thompson, AccuWeather meteorologist
Updated Aug 9, 2021 11:38 AM EDT
After the historic heat wave that baked the Northwest in late June, it looks like another hot stretch is on the way later this week.
It's already been a warm start to the month, with Seattle running about 2 degrees above average through Aug. 7. Portland is nearly 4 degrees above average. East of the Cascades, the difference is even greater. Yakima is 6.5 degrees above average for the month through the 7th.
While this does not look to be quite the magnitude of the June heat wave, it will still be a pretty remarkable stretch of hot weather, especially when you consider that two stretches like this are occurring in the same year.
The overall pattern is fairly similar to the late-June heat wave.
If you recall from the June heat wave, that large 594 contour on this upper-level map is an indication of a very strong and anomalous ridge in the Northwest. While it's common to see a ridge of that magnitude farther south across the Four Corners region, it is unusual to see that reach into the Pacific Northwest.
Assuming this ridge comes to fruition as currently forecast, it will mean more triple-digit heat across portions of western Washington and down through the Willamette Valley.
The map above is pretty remarkable to look at, but it doesn't look as extreme as the late-June event. So, we probably won't see Portland reach 116 degrees Fahrenheit again and Seattle shouldn't see 108 this time around.
Nevertheless, this is still a dangerous heat wave in an area not as accustomed to the extreme heat compared to areas farther south.
The hot stretch could last five to seven days, although the worst of the heat will be focused across Thursday and Friday.
Temperatures will gradually drop in the Northwest heading into the weekend as that massive ridge gets squashed back to the south with a trough approaching.
Elsewhere, after the recent break, the monsoon will start to reactivate this week. Precipitable water (a measure of the amount of moisture in the atmosphere) has been pretty low in recent days.
However, by the second half of this week, there will be a sizable surge in moisture.
The added moisture will combine with some pieces of energy moving around that giant ridge in the Northwest (look at the 500-mb chart earlier in the blog) to spawn fairly widespread showers and thunderstorms.
This will mean more beneficial rain for most places, but also the potential for too much water at once, which will lead to flash flooding in some places.
Report a Typo