Hazy skies, high temps forecast for Olympia area through Wednesday and then ... rain?
The Olympia area forecast calls for hot weather and hazy skies through Wednesday, followed by the kind of weather this area is famous for: rain.
Up to a quarter of an inch of rain could fall here Thursday night and into Friday, said Jacob DeFlitch, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle.
Before we get to the precipitation, though, South Sounders are getting their first taste of the smoky air created by wildfires in Eastern Washington, Oregon and even as far as Northern California, he said.
However, the wildfire smoke is expected to remain elevated and not touch the surface. That will help air quality throughout Western Washington, DeFlitch said.
State Department of Ecology air quality data on Monday showed that the Olympia area rates a 28, which falls into the category of “good.” In comparison, the Eastern Washingon town of Winthrop in Okanogan County is at 407, which rates as “hazardous.”
(Note: About 10 a.m. Monday, the air quality data for the Olympia area jumped to 316, but monitoring coordinator Jill Schulte believed that to be an instrument error, she said. It was still close to 200 at 1:30 p.m.)
Temperatures through Wednesday will be in the upper 80s, followed by the 70s heading into the weekend. Overnight lows will be in the mid 50s. All of that is a break from the weekend’s toasty temps.
Daytime temperatures on July 30 soared to 93 degrees. That wasn’t a record, but the overnight temps from Friday to Saturday morning set a new record for highest minimum temperature of 65 degrees, DeFlitch said.
This story was originally published August 2, 2021 at 11:14 AM with the headline "Hazy skies, high temps forecast for Olympia area through Wednesday and then ... rain?."
