Heat — Western Whatcom County, Washington

2023-05-12 to 2023-05-16 · Western Whatcom County, Washington

Event narrative

An extended period of above normal temperatures were recorded across Western Whatcom County through mid-May. The following high temperature records were set during this period:

May 12: Record high set at BLI of 79 degrees, breaking the previous record of 77 set most recently in 2002.

May 15: Record high set at BLI of 86 degrees, breaking the previous record of 80 set in 2014.

May 16: Record high set at BLI of 86 degrees, breaking the previous record of 80 set in 2014.

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 1103536. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.