An “unprecedented” heat wave that already had broken records Friday will peak today and Monday on the North Olympic Peninsula, according to National Weather Service meteorologists in Seattle.
“The east side of the Peninsula will have the warmest temperatures on Monday whereas the west side will see the warmest on Sunday,” said meteorologist Steve Reedy on Saturday.
Quilcene had hit a triple-digit temperature by 3 p.m. Saturday, with a high of 101 degrees Fahrenheit, and was expected to continue to warm through Monday, Reedy said.
Port Angeles reached 95 degrees Friday, breaking its all-time record of 94 degrees on Aug. 18, 2016 and July 28, 2009. By 3 p.m. Saturday, it had a high temperature of 91 and was expected to remain about the same today.
Both Clallam and Jefferson counties are under an excessive heat warning through 9 p.m. Monday.
By Monday, Port Angeles and Sequim coastal areas are expected to see lower temperatures.
“We are expecting a little bit of cooling along along the coastlines on Monday,” Reedy said.
“There will be fog moving up the Pacific beaches during the day on Monday, especially Monday night,” said meteorologist Mike McFarland on Friday.
“By Tuesday morning, there should be a significant marine layer up and down the coast,” he added.
“It will probably make it down the Strait of Juan De Fuca. It probably won’t make it as far inland as the I-5 corridor, but for your area, the fog and low clouds should be pouring in Tuesday morning.”
Higher temperatures, up into triple digits, are expected inland.
“The farther you get away from the water, obviously the warmer it could get,” said McFarland, who has family in East Jefferson County.
“Down on the beach at Cape George can be a far cry from Chimacum.”
McFarland had said Friday that all-time heat records for Port Angeles, Port Townsend and the West End would be in jeopardy of falling.
The observed high temperature in Port Townsend was 85 degrees on Friday and 84 degrees by 3 p.m. Saturday, said Reedy on Saturday.
The high at the Quillayute Airport near Forks was 82 on Friday and 86 by 3 p.m. Saturday.
South of Neah Bay, the temperature had reached 92 degrees by that time.
Clallam and Jefferson counties were remaining slightly cooler than much of the sweltering Pacific Northwest.
A high of 99 degrees was reported at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport by 3 p.m. Saturday, making it the hottest June day on record for the Seattle area.
Seattle was expected to edge above 100 degrees over the weekend, and in Portland, Ore., weather forecasters said the thermometer could soar to 108 degrees by today, breaking an all-time record of 107 degrees set in 1981, according to the Associated Press.
Spokane was expected to hit 109 on Monday, AP said. The National Weather Service expects Tuesday high temperatures to be 115 degrees in Walla Walla and 114 in Yakima.
“We are about to experience one of the most extreme weather events in Northwest history,” said Cliff Mass, a University of Washington atmospheric sciences professor and weather blogger, in a Friday podcast.
“We will break many all-time temperature records for the region, and we will do this because so many factors occurred in the exact sequence and location required to push the atmosphere to extremes.”
The factors include a strong ridge of high pressure over the region, a trough of low pressure approaching the coast late Sunday into Monday and the compression and warming of sinking air as it moves over the Cascades into the Puget Sound, Mass said.
“As it’s compressed and warmed, the temperature will increase to unimaginable levels,” Mass said.
“We’re talking about temperatures of over 110 degrees some places west of the Cascade crest.”
McFarland said Western Washington’s hottest days are typically associated with a thermal trough extending from the Central Valley of California into Willamette Valley in Oregon.
“Well, this weekend, the thermal trough will extend from Yuma, (Ariz.) to the Northwest Territories,” McFarland said in a telephone interview.
“This is going to be an unprecedented warm air mass. When you look at the temperatures aloft and everything, I’ve never see it this high.”
Here are the all-time temperate records for three North Olympic Peninsula locations with established weather data:
• Quillayute Airport, west of Forks — 99 degrees on Aug. 9, 1981.
• Port Angeles — 94 degrees on Aug. 18, 2016 and July 28, 2009.
• Port Townsend — 96 degrees on Aug. 8-9, 1960.
Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest issued a joint press release Thursday warning visitors of rising temperatures and reminding the public that bodies of water are colder than expected.
Stay hydrated, dress appropriately and do not challenge yourself in the mountains and use a life jacket near the water, the release said.
Dr. Tom Locke, Jefferson County health officer, reminded the public about the dangers of heat stroke.
“Washingtonians don’t have to worry about it as much,” Locke said, “but people who are not used to hot climates should remember not to overheat.
“Hydration is the key,” Locke added.
“People who stay well hydrated and limit their time and their physical activities in the heat typically do fine. We do typically start to see, when the temperatures reach the 90s and above, people with heat stroke, especially people who are vulnerable to it.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
Executive Editor Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3530 or at lleach@peninsuladailynews.com.
Reporters Diane Urbani De La Paz and Zack Jablonski contributed to this report.
