Could Washington State See One of Its Hottest Summers Ever in 2024?

How Hot Is Tri-Cities Washington Going To Get During The Summer Of 2024?

I can't believe we are already going to see 90-degree temps this week before settling back in the high 70s next week in the Tri-Cities.

Will Washington State Have A Hotter Than Normal Summer In 2024?

As summer is around the corner, it got me curious after heaving a fairly mild winter if that means we are looking at a scorcher of a summer this year in Washington State.

Luckily, my buddy Mark Ingalls is a weather expert whose great website ingallswx.com might be able to break down what to expect this summer in the Tri-Cities and Washington State

Mark comments:

El Niño is declining and La Niña is likely to replace it by the start of fall. La Niña winters are typically cool and moist in the Pacific Northwest but we won’t benefit from that during the summer months.

Interestingly, going rapidly from a strong El Niño into a decent La Niña the following cold season isn’t all that uncommon. This occurred in 1998, 2010, and 2016 just to name a few.

You can read more on the summer forecast from Mark in the link below:

https://ingallswx.com/2024/03/09/el-nino-to-collapse-by-summer-la-nina-forecast-fall-and-winter-2024-25/

Mark is more concerned about the fire season and his thoughts on what to expect this fire season are below:

The PNW is experiencing a pretty cool and moist Spring which means lots of brush is growing in the forested parts of the Pacific Northwest. If the forecasts from NOAA and Environment Canada pan out, all this brush will be pretty dry by late summer creating a significant fire risk.

Fires burn every summer, but ample dry brush lights trees on fire easier than a) low amounts of brush from a dry spring or b) green brush from a wet summer.

Long-range modeling suggests the Okanogan and British Columbia could experience a few rounds of thunderstorms. Dry lightning and careless people in the woods create fires, and these fires may become big.

Smoke may be a problem for the Tri-Cities, Yakima, and the rest of the Columbia Basin during August and September.

So as you can see from our weather expert Mark Ingalls, we can expect above-average hotter temperatures this summer in the Tri-Cities and Washington State but we should be more concerned about what a tough fire season could bring to the PNW.

Mark's website is fascinating and you can follow him and get more weather updates 24/7 by clicking here.