Nothing much to say but HOT! Our roller-coaster summer weather has reached a new high, so to speak. But don’t worry, we will tumble back down this coming week and once again go about our lives under the mundane low gray clouds and cool temperatures.
Meanwhile, hang on as we endure a couple more days of heat. A marine push looks likely some time Tuesday with relief after that. Whether we get any instability — such as thunderstorms — is still up in the air.
Let’s review some of the weather news from Saturday.
Temperatures on the Washington coast were in record territory, with highs in the mid-90s, almost unheard of. My weather station at Ocean Shores registered a high of 96.8 degrees at 3 p.m. With strong east winds blowing, there was no relief by the surf, either. The sand was like the Sahara Desert (West Coast version). Seattle reached 95 degrees at 4 p.m., shattering its old record high for the date.
The east winds were so strong, even in the upper regions of the atmosphere, that volcanic dust from the crater of Mount St. Helens was blowing westward and the plume of dust could be seen on the visible satellite pictures. Winds aloft at 6,000 feet were in excess of 40 mph. Winds took a five-acre smolder that lightning caused Aug. 5th and kicked it up into a 120-acre blaze Friday in the Mt. Hopper region of the Olympics. The plume of smoke trailed out to sea Friday night, coloring the sunset. Since this is in a wilderness area, the fire was left alone.
