**A RED FLAG WARNING is in effect until midnight Sunday. Click here for the full report**
Typically after April seeing any “watches”, “warnings” or “advisories” by the National Weather Service are rare. But when we do, it usually has something to do with warm or dry conditions. This time, the Red Flag Warning above was posted because of warm AND dry conditions all across the Northwest.
Realizing that this current dry stretch is not unusual (July’s monthly average rainfall is about 0.9” and it seems like we encounter these dry periods every year) it is still wise to know your surroundings when dealing with fireworks this weekend. The Kitsap Sun has posted a news story about this and you can read more about proper safety precautions here.
Just briefly I also want to address some questions brought to me about a rumored drought scare across the state. My advice is, if you live in Western Washington you should ignore those rumors. In reality, we haven’t really gone that long without a drenching rain and this past winter/spring not only brought healthy precipitation to our lowlands but to the mountains as well (while slow to start, the ski areas had a great above average season). The CPC has released more information on drought conditions in the Northwest, but I’ll go into more detail regarding that later.
Actually, on that note, Scott Sistek of KOMO 4 Weather writes: “Did you know that statistically the Fourth of July has had the most frequent occurrence of rain of any other day in July? Over the past 116 years, it’s rained 33 times on the Fourth. But this year will not be 34. In fact, it ‘s continuing a surprising stretch of nice Fourths — last year it was 71 but in 2007, it was 84, which had been the warmest Fourth in quite some time.”
This holiday weekend will be absolutely gorgeous with mid to upper 80s spread all across the region tomorrow under sunny skies. For those interested, today the Bremerton National Airport recorded a high of 86 degrees—one degree shy of my predicted 87! Arg! I’m sure someone in Kitsap County recorded an 87 degree reading 🙂 Sunday will be a bit cooler, but highs will stay in the 80s one more day before a more impressive marine push moves through Sunday night offering low clouds and significantly cooler temperatures for your Monday.
In fact, most of next week will be partly to mostly cloudy with highs near 70. That will feel nice!
Have a great evening,
Matthew Leach
Forecasting Kitsap
7 DAY FORECAST
