Temperatures across Eastern Washington ranged from 98 to 110. The heat caused roads to buckle in Whitman County near Rosalia on July 9.
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Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS OTX wrote it up.
Temperatures across Eastern Washington ranged from 98 to 110. The heat caused roads to buckle in Whitman County near Rosalia on July 9.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Spokane, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 9, 9:42 AM PST, 3 hours 8 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Spokane WA
1042 AM PDT Tue Jul 9 2024
.SYNOPSIS...
Hot temperatures will continue through the upcoming week. The
hottest days will be today and Wednesday with widespread triple
digit heat. Breezy to gusty winds return Wednesday with increasing
fire weather concerns. Slightly cooler temperatures arrive
Thursday and Friday, before warming up again this weekend.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
...ONGOING HEAT WAVE DELIVERING NEAR-RECORD HEAT THROUGH WEDNESDAY...
...INCREASED FIRE WEATHER DANGER THROUGH WEDNESDAY...
- Today and Wednesday will deliver the hottest afternoon highs
and warmest overnight lows.
- Red Flag Warnings and Fire Weather Watches continue for parts of
the region through Wednesday.
- Temperatures cool by 5 to 10 degrees Thursday and Friday, warming
again heading into the weekend.
- No precipitation is in sight.
Today through Wednesday: A strong and persistent high-pressure ridge
will bring hot and dry conditions across the Inland NW. The hottest
days will be today and Wednesday, with most locations seeing
temperatures somewhere between 100 and 110. Nighttime lows will also
be in the upper 60s and 70s. These warmer nighttime temperatures
will not allow those without AC to cool their house much at night.
Make sure to keep an eye on pets, check on elders, and those
sensitive to heat. Winds will increase on Wednesday with gusts up to
30 mph in the lee of the Cascades and Waterville Plateau, decreasing
as you move east towards Spokane. Smoke from the Pioneer Fire will
result in poor air quality near Lake Chelan. Areas outside of there
are likely to see hazy skies but most smoke will remain above the
surface.
A Red Flag Warning continues through Tuesday in the Cascades and
Pioneer Fire due to the hot temperatures, poor overnight recoveries
and unstable conditions. In addition, a Fire Weather Watch continues
for the Cascades and Pioneer on Wednesday, extending into the lee of
the Cascades due to increasing winds as a cold front passes over.
Elevated instability will bring a slight concern for dry lightning.
Thursday through Monday: Behind the passage of the front will lead
to slightly cooler temperatures for Thursday and Friday, with
temperatures 5 to 10 degrees cooler. This will drop most of the high
temperatures into the 90s, still 5 to 10 degrees above normal. With
this cooldown, those without an AC will have a better chance to cool
off their house as nighttime lows will drop into the 50s and 60s.
Temperatures look to rebound over the weekend, warming back up into
the upper 90s to low 100s as weak ridging builds in again. This will
be short-lived as a low in Canada will help flatten the ridge on
Monday, allow temperatures to cool back into the 90s, similar to
Thursday. /KM
&&
.AVIATION...
18Z TAFS: VFR conditions will prevail. Local reductions in
visibility possible near and downwind of Lake Chelan due to smoke
from the Pioneer Fire.
FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: High confidence in
VFR conditions.
-----------------------
Confidence descriptors:
Low - Less than a 30 percent chance
Moderate - 30 to 70 percent chance
High - Greater than a 70 percent chance
For additional probabilistic information for NWS Spokane airports,
please refer to the Aviation Dashboard on our webpage:
https:/www.weather.gov/otx/avndashboard
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Spokane 102 67 104 64 95 61 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coeur d'Alene 100 65 101 63 92 60 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Pullman 99 64 100 62 90 58 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Lewiston 107 73 109 71 101 67 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Colville 100 60 102 57 95 55 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Sandpoint 97 61 98 60 91 55 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kellogg 97 71 99 67 89 64 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Moses Lake 107 67 107 63 99 61 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Wenatchee 107 75 104 68 97 66 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Omak 107 69 107 64 100 65 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
&&
.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ID...Heat Advisory until 10 PM PDT Wednesday for Central Panhandle
Mountains-Northern Panhandle.
Excessive Heat Warning until 10 PM PDT Wednesday for Coeur
d'Alene Area-Idaho Palouse-Lewis and Southern Nez Perce
Counties-Lewiston Area.
WA...Heat Advisory until 10 PM PDT Wednesday for Northeast Mountains-
Okanogan Highlands-Western Chelan County.
Excessive Heat Warning until 10 PM PDT Wednesday for Central
Chelan County-Lower Garfield and Asotin Counties-Moses Lake
Area-Northeast Blue Mountains-Okanogan Valley-Spokane Area-
Upper Columbia Basin-Washington Palouse-Waterville Plateau-
Wenatchee Area-Western Okanogan County.
Fire Weather Watch from Wednesday afternoon through Wednesday
evening for East Portion of North Cascades National
Park/Lake Chelan National Recreation Area (Zone 697)-East
Washington Central Cascades (Zone 696)-Foothills of Central
Washington Cascades (Zone 705)-Methow Valley (Zone 704)-
Okanogan Valley (Zone 703)-Waterville Plateau (Zone 706)-
Western Columbia Basin (Zone 707).
Red Flag Warning until 11 PM PDT this evening for East Portion
of North Cascades National Park/Lake Chelan National
Recreation Area (Zone 697)-East Washington Central Cascades
(Zone 696)-East Washington North Cascades (Zone 698).
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 excessive heat. Local standard time, as filed.
Washington DOT reported road buckling at US195 in two locations south of Rosalia. First location quickly repaired with a second location reported just south of the first one.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, July 2024
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1206836.