It’s hot out there! Western Washington endures late summer heatwave

Most of Western Washington is under a heat advisory through Tuesday morning, with temperatures expected to reach the 90s and set records in some spots.

The National Weather Service has issued an extreme heat warning for the Cascade foothills to go along with the advisory for the entire Puget Sound region.

Seattle could see four consecutive days above 80 degrees for the first time this summer. Elsewhere, record temperatures are expected in North Bend, which is expected to top out at 99 degrees on Saturday and stay in the 90s through next Wednesday.

Olympia is expected to hit 94 degrees Saturday (topping the previous record of 90 degrees set in 1981), and Centralia is expected to hit 96 Saturday and 95 on Sunday.

Over in the Olympic Peninsula, Shelton is expected to hit a record high of 96 on Saturday.

Deputy State Climatologist Karin Bumbaco said the late summer high temperatures are magnified by a lack of rain, which has become more common in the Northwest during the summer months.

“One thing that climate change models tell us is that we should expect to see drier summers in our future, and that looks like it might already be happening in Washington state," Bumbaco said. "We have been seeing less of that late summer precipitation… than usual in recent years.”

That’s a troubling trend on the east side of the mountains in particular, where the Yakima Basin is dealing with some of the lowest levels of water in more than 50 years.

The extreme heat warning remains in place until early Tuesday, but the entire week will see above average temperatures.

For Seattle, that means highs in the 80s all week.

For people in search of a cooling center, call 211 to find a location near you.