Seattle weather: Unseasonably warm, dry conditions elevate fire danger

Warm and dry week ahead, with elevated fire danger

FOX 13 Chief Meteorologist Lisa Villegas and Forecaster Erin Mayovsky are tracking a beautiful week, but with warm and dry conditions comes an elevated risk for wildfires.

SEATTLE - Temperatures Tuesday went soaring above the average seasonal high of 69 for this time of year. SeaTac hit 82 at the airport with even warmer highs to the south.

Overnight skies are mainly clear with lows in the mid to upper 50s for the Central Sound. We'll see slightly cooler temperatures for the southwest interior and coast.

Heat peaks on Wednesday as a ridge to the east of us strengthens providing drier and hot conditions around the Northwest.

Look for a few early high clouds Wednesday otherwise more sunshine is on tap with temperatures near record territory. The record to beat for SeaTac is 90 tomorrow and we're forecasting 87. And we expect even warmer highs to the south for places like Shelton, Lacey, Olympia, and Chehalis.

Just another reminder that fire danger across the region is elevated as a dry and unstable air mass is with us along with relative low humidity, and lack of rain.

So far this year we only have just under 13" of rain at the airport, that puts us six plus inches behind since January 1st.

Our terrain is very tinder dry, so please be mindful of your ground surroundings. Any small spark can spread fire rapidly in these conditions.

The risk of fire danger drops as we head into Friday with a slight chance of drizzle in the forecast.

If you're thinking about cooling-off by jumping into our area's waters, please be careful as water temperature are still very cold!

A few clouds find their way into Puget Sound by Thursday with highs dropping into the upper 70s, still above normal for this time of year. (70)

Friday is our best shot for a little precipitation, but it's looking really low as of today. Showers will start east of the Cascades and move over the mountains throughout the day with a slim shot for drizzle into Western WA. Highs only warm into the upper 68 below average.

The rest of the week features more sunshine with highs warming into the upper 70s to low 80s. Enjoy!

Have a great week all! ~Erin Mayovsky, FOX 13 Forecaster