August 3, 2023

Seafair Weekend

Last updated 11:40 AM, Thursday, August 3rd, 2023 

By Joseph Renalds

Happy Thursday everyone!

We just passed the halfway point of the UW summer break and the season is in full swing now around Seattle. We have Seafair Weekend coming up and temperatures are repeatedly in the 80s with sunny skies. Quite the gift from mother nature considering what we will be seeing only a few months from now. Sorry, I will not bring that up again.

Today looks to have temperatures getting into the mid-80s around the area with clear skies. The Blue Angels will be practicing today starting at 11 AM so don’t be surprised if you hear a roaring noise as you head out for lunch.

Sometimes the Blue Angels have to do their low show if there is too much cloud cover. This year a building ridge of high pressure should help keep our skies clear over the weekend so the high show can roar over Lake Washington. There will be some clouds in the mountains though which could move west over the lowlands in the afternoon. The ridge will also help bump our temperatures up a few degrees into the upper 80s for the weekend before dropping back down to start out next week. There may even be a chance for some lowland rain for the middle of next week.

Another thing we will have to pay more attention to as we get later into the summer season is the wildfire risk. We have already seen several fires start this summer, including the Newell Road Fire in Klickitat County which burned over 60 thousand acres before it was contained. Over the next few days some monsoonal moisture will make its way over the Cascade mountains bringing rain showers and thunderstorms. These showers will bring much needed rain with them but the lightning is very dangerous considering how dry much of our state is.

Well I hope you all have a good rest of your summer break and enjoy the upcoming Seafair festivities!

Reach forecaster Joseph Renalds at theuwdawgcast@uw.edu, on Twitter @TheUWDawgcast, or on Instagram @uwdawgcast.