Here’s how long the heat will linger in Whatcom County
A heat advisory is in effect as high pressure draws hot air toward Whatcom County, driving temperatures into the 80s and 90s and allowing some wildfire smoke to sweep through the region.
A high temperature of 87 degrees is forecast for Bellingham on Friday, July 30, but the Mount Baker foothills and areas near the Canadian border will be much warmer, according to the National Weather Service in Seattle.
That’s 10 to 15 degrees above normal, according to NOAA data for Bellingham International Airport.
“Very warm temperatures today and Saturday before marine push Sunday brings temperatures back to near normal,” meteorologist Dana Felton said in the online forecast discussion Friday.
Lack of those cooling ocean breezes will keep Whatcom County warmer than usual overnight, with low temperatures in the low 60s — about 5 to 10 degrees above normal.
Forecast maps also show that smoke from wildfires burning across the West will sweep over Western Washington on Friday night.
But that smoke likely will remain aloft as haze and shouldn’t affect air quality near the ground.
Daytime temperatures will remain in the high 80s and low 90s through Saturday night, July 31.
But the weather pattern will change Sunday, Aug. 1, with winds coming from the west bringing a possibility of rain.
“Low-level onshore flow will continue for the first half of next week. A front could reach the area late in the week,” Felton said.
Temperatures Sunday will be in the upper 70s with cloudy skies and a slight chance that Bellingham could see its first rainfall since June 15.
