Heat Advisory For Wenatchee, Much of NCW Over Weekend
Triple digit temperatures will hit much of North Central Washington this weekend. There's now a Heat Advisory from noon Saturday until 8pm Sunday.
Wenatchee will be 10-15 degrees above normal, although it's not likely any records will be broken. The average high temperature in Wenatchee this time of year is 85.
Meteorologist Rachael Fewkes with the National Weather Service says the warm-up is the result of conditions along the coast of Canada.
"We have a closed off center of low pressure that has set up over Vancouver Island, and it is bringing in warm air from the southwest," said Fewkes.
The warm dry air is bringing a higher chance for wildfires, although winds are supposed to be calm.
Meanwhile, wildfires have become more frequent, but have not burned vast amounts of acreage so far this summer.
Fewkes says wind could increase the threat of wildfires.
"If we get any patterns that set up that bring some strong winds, any fires that are already going, that will not aid in containing them," Fewkes said. "But so far we've been pretty lucky with the fire season being delayed. We haven't seen a whole lot of smoke or really bad air quality."
Hazy skies from smoke blowing in from fires in British Columbia are leaving the region.
Winds are forecast to be calm over the weekend.
Still, Washington State has a bull-eye on it in terms of wildfire potential this summer.
The updated monthly Wildland Fire Potential Outlook from the National Interagency Fire Center show Washington and part of Oregon as the most likely area in the U.S. to have above normal wildfire activity during the month of July.