Heat — Seattle and Vicinity, Washington

2023-05-12 to 2023-05-16 · Seattle and Vicinity, Washington

Event narrative

Well above normal temperatures lingered over the Seattle area for several days in mid-May, breaking multiple high temperature records. The Sea-Tac ASOS recorded the following record high temperatures:

May 12: Record high set at SEW of 82 degrees, breaking the previous record of 81 set in 1959.

May 13: Record high set at SEW of 86 degrees, breaking the previous record of 85 set in 2018.

May 14: Record high set at SEW of 89 degrees, breaking the previous record of 88 set in 2018.

May 15: Record high set at SEW of 88 degrees, breaking the previous record of 85 set in 2007.

May 16: Record high set at SEW of 88 degrees, breaking the previous record of 85 set in 2007.

Wider weather episode

A strong ridge of high pressure brought well above normal temperatures to Western Washington, with a period of high temperatures in the upper 80s to low 90s. Many locations broke temperature records during this period. Eventually, onshore flow aided in the recovery back towards near normal temperatures to round out the latter half of the month.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1103534. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.