Summer solstice arrives along with warmer temperatures for Seattle

The Summer solstice on Tuesday ushered in a welcome change of season after an unusually cool and rainy spring in and around Seattle. Western Washington will finally get some summer weather later this week, with highs in the 80s.

The Western part of the state can expect highs in the upper-60s for the rest of the workweek as a small system moves north toward Canada, according to the National Weather Service. By Saturday, temperatures will hit the mid-80s for Seattle and southward, and some may get into the upper-80s on Sunday.

The region will also enjoy about 16 hours of daylight on Tuesday. Locally, Bellingham will get the longest day with 16 hours and 9 minutes of daylight and a 9:17 p.m. sunset, followed by Everett with 16:02 hours of daylight, Seattle with 15:59, Tacoma with 15:56 and Chehalis with 15:51.

As folks enjoy warmer temperatures and longer days, meteorologist Kirby Cook says people should prepare for the heat.

“It has been a cool spring, and this will be a pretty abrupt change from cooler temperatures into some warmer temperatures,” Cook said. “People should be prepared to stay out of the heat if they need to and to stay hydrated.”

“We’ll actually get some real summer weather this week,” Cook added.

The 14-day forecast is pretty consistent with average temperatures for this time of year but the outlook for July, August and September is likely to be above average, Cook said.

“We’re kind of looking at above-average temperatures and watching for heat waves as we roll through the end of June, but it does not look like we’re going to see that unprecedented heat this year that we saw last year,” Cook said.