It might not break records, but a heat wave is rolling into Olympia this week

The heat wave that is hitting Olympia and the surrounding region this week isn’t projected to break any records — but it will come close.

Temperatures reached into the 90s Monday afternoon and Olympia is expected to remain in the high 80s and lower 90s during afternoon hours — reaching as hot as 93 degrees Saturday and Sunday — before dipping back down into the low 80s and high 70s early next week.

Overnight temperatures should drop into the mid to upper 50s.

No day during the week is expected to beat previous high temperature records — the hottest day ever recorded in Olympia in the final week of July was 104 degrees — but the consistent heat still led the National Weather Service to declare hazardous weather conditions.

NWS put a heat advisory in place at 10 a.m. Monday that will last until 9 p.m. More heat advisories are likely throughout the week if the weather pattern holds as expected.

“A Heat Advisory means that a period of hot temperatures is expected,” NWS wrote in a release Monday. “The combination of hot temperatures and high humidity will combine to create a situation in which heat illnesses are possible.

“Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible, reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening.”

The Seattle Times reported Monday that the city is the “least air-conditioned metro area in the nation” according to census information. That makes a stretch of hot weather more challenging that in other cities.

“As of 2015, only 1 of every 3 housing units in the Seattle area was cooled by central air or a room unit. That’s nowhere near the national average of 89 percent,” the report says.

Meanwhile, the closest metro area to the south, Portland, has air conditioning units in 69.9 percent of households, while San Francisco reports units in 36.3 percent of households and Los Angeles 72.8 percent.

This story was originally published July 23, 2018 at 4:04 PM.