WA weather: Hottest day of the year, 9 p.m. sunset, then thunderstorms

Don't you just love that time in spring when you don't know what to wear because the weather can go from sweaty to chilly and back again?

Well, get your T-shirts, shorts, sweaters and pants on deck, because we started out the week with the hottest day of the year so far and the first 9 p.m. sunset before transitioning into rain and the chance of a thunderstorm.

"Really warm then cool and showery - kind of what we've been doing, it seems, the last couple of weeks," said National Weather Service meteorologist Dana Felton. "We go up, we come down, we go up, we come down. Bit of a roller coaster."

Tuesday brought the hottest day of the year with highs touching 86 degrees in the Seattle area, climbing near 90 in the Cascade foothills and South Puget Sound, as a temporary ridge of high pressure moved over us.

But the heat will be a one-hit-wonder only as marine air drifts in while the ridge of high pressure moves east, Felton said. The temperatures will drop to maybe a high of 70 Wednesday, closer to what we might expect this time of year.

So if you want to get all summery with some park time and a dip in the water, make use of Tuesday - being mindful of what beaches not to swim at and the fact that the water is still shockingly cold, obviously.

The clouds will roll in Wednesday and they'll stick around all the way through Monday, Felton said. Temperatures will fall and by Friday, they won't get higher than the low 60s.

An upper-level trough will bring us a chance of rain showers beginning Friday afternoon, though not much precipitation is expected, Felton said. But Saturday could see thunderstorms, and that could mean bursts of heavy downpours.

So enjoy the variety this week while the much-loved Seattle summer is on its way. We can wait just a little longer.

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This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 9:42 AM.