Still warm, but much cooler Tuesday in Western Washington

SEATTLE - After near-record heat, we're seeing some relief from Mother Nature in the form of cooler air coming off the chilly waters of the Pacific Ocean. Often called a "marine push" and it's accompanied by some morning clouds. Already this morning we're cooler by more than ten degrees compared to yesterday in most locations around Western Washington.

Don't worry, we'll still see some warmth though -- but we're backing our temperatures down to the lower 80s for most of us. It's a big temperature drop compared to yesterday which was the hottest day of 2020 so far for most places west of the Cascades. 

East of the mountains will continue their summer sizzle. The Nat'l Weather Service has increased the area under a Heat Advisory to basically everywhere east of the Cascade crest into Idaho and Oregon. It remains tinder dry today and strong winds from the NW could gust any sparks very far downwind in these conditions so practicing fire safety is incredibly important. Keep cigarette butts in cars, make sure tow trailer chains aren't dragging, and don't drive into tall grasses-- all can ignite wildland fires. 

West of the Cascades, we'll see much more pleasant temperatures in the low to mid 80s in our warmest spots around Puget Sound. That's still warmer than the average of 77, but much cooler than Monday. The on-shore flow backs off a bit for some more warmth on Wed/Thu, so slightly warmer temps as a result are likely. We do see a system off shore that will provide a stronger marine push late Thursday. The southern flow associated with this weather system could kick off some Cascade thunderstorms. This time of year these storms often have the dangerous lightning, but not as much of the beneficial rain. Often this scenario can spark multilple wildfires. 

After Thursday, we'll be much cooler with afternoon temps near the seasonal norms. We could see even more stubborn morning clouds for the second half of the weekend into Monday. Some of the forecast models are hinting at possible showers / sprinkles. But, seeing that August is one of our driest months of the year, I'm skeptical of that possibility for most of us. Stay tuned.