Our early June heat peaked on Wednesday, with highs mainly in the 80s around the Emerald City. A thin veil of high clouds kept temps from reaching into record territory, but it was still the warmest day of the the week for most cities along the I-5 corridor.
Cooler marine clouds have already arrived at the beaches, and the return of our natural air conditioning will bring down temperatures near the Sound by Thursday. A nice seabreeze will usher some of that cool, damp ocean air around the Olympics and toward the metro area by dawn, though morning cloud cover should be patchy at best. We'll still enjoy mostly sunny skies, but highs will scale back into the 70s from Snohomish to Covington.
Meanwhile, an area of low pressure is spinning over the Sierra Nevada, and it will start to throw some showers in our direction over the next 48 hours. Communities east of the Cascade crest will see passing showers and thundershowers Thursday, and heavy downpours may lead to flash flooding, especially in some of the more recent wildfire burn scar areas.
These showers will wrap around in our direction come Friday, cooling all of Western Washington off into the 60s to wrap up the work and school week. The models are bringing the best chance for measurable rain from Everett north to Bellingham. While not all of us will see rain, even the bit we *do* pick up with be helpful in tamping down the early season fire danger.
Sunshine and 70s bounce back for a lovely June weekend--all the better for enjoying a free visit to any of our state parks!
Have a great night,
Shannon
Meteorologist Shannon O'Donnell
The KOMO 4-Cast Team
Updated Wednesday Evening