Brier Weather Station
Latitude N 47° 46' 49" Longitude W 122° 16' 48" Elevation 341 ft
194
FXUS66 KSEW 071658
AFDSEW
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Seattle WA
958 AM PDT Fri Aug 7 2026
.SYNOPSIS...
Warm conditions again today, followed by a gradual cooldown to near-
normal temperatures over the weekend. Western Washington will be on
the backside of an upper level ridge through Saturday. Upper level
flow becomes zonal on Sunday, continuing through at least midweek.
Uncertainty in the forecast towards the second part of next
week.
&&
.SHORT TERM /TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY/...
Latest satellite imagery shows this morning`s marine layer
starting to slowly retreat back to the coast. Locations under
the influence of the marine layer much cooler this morning with
temperatures in the upper 50s/low 60s. Whereas, locations east
of the I-5 corridor already seeing temperatures reaching into
the low 70s.
The upper ridge will shift eastward throughout the day today. This,
along with the aforementioned onshore flow and the slightly cooler
temperatures early this morning will ease HeatRisk concerns for much
of the area. However, also stated above, the warmer conditions along
the I-5 corridor suggests that there will be one more day of
Moderate/Orange HeatRisk there. As such, inherited Heat Advisory
will remain in place. Continued onshore flow will continue to erode
smoke concerns, but similar to HeatRisk, conditions will still allow
for some haze again today before more successful eastward progress
of marine air should limit smoke concerns to the Cascades and
locations near any burning wildfires.
Zonal flow will keep conditions over the CWA pretty uneventful for
the remainder of the near term. Daytime highs will ease a couple of
degrees each day with Saturday mostly in the mid to upper 70s
/except for the lower 80s along the I-5 corridor and SW interior/
and more widespread mid to upper 70s for Sunday /mid to upper 60s
along the coast/.
18
&&
.LONG TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY/...
Long-term guidance keeps zonal flow aloft in place through at least
Wednesday...perhaps extending into early Thursday. It is at midweek
where dissolution of the consensus occurs, where there are some
hints at a potential weak trough. Solutions vary though, with some
bringing this feature one Wednesday, others on Thursday and various
times in between. Regardless, this trough looks to be mainly a dry
feature. High temps throughout the long term look to remain static
from where they were at the conclusion of the short term, with mid
to upper 70s expected for the interior lowlands while locations
along the coast or water adjacent can expect persistent mid to upper
60s.
18
&&
.AVIATION...
A upper level ridge remains over the region today with west to
southwest flow aloft. Low level onshore flow is increasing near the
surface. IFR/LIFR stratus extending locally inland will retreat to
the immediate coastline this afternoon with hazy VFR conditions for
the interior as some wildfire smoke lingers over the area. Coastal
stratus will make a further inland intrusion late tonight into
Saturday morning for a brief period of IFR stratus at terminals
around Puget Sound. VFR will return for interior locations again by
around 16Z-18Z Saturday.
KSEA...VFR with haze today. Increasing onshore flow makes IFR
stratus likely for the terminal 13Z-17Z on Saturday. Surface winds
S/SW 5 to 8 knots will veer W/NW 7 knots or less for a period late
this afternoon. Winds will back to S/SW again tonight.
27
&&
.MARINE...
Broad surface ridging will remain centered over the offshore waters
with lower pressure east of the Cascades into early next week
maintaining onshore flow. This will lead to daily diurnally driven
small craft advisory strength westerlies in the central/east strait.
A series of weak systems passing north of the area early next week
will strengthen onshore flow for a risk of gales in the central/east
strait.
27
&&
.FIRE WEATHER...
Elevated fire weather conditions across the area today with above
average temperatures in concert with dry conditions. Minimum RH
values are lowering into the mid 10s to lower 20s in Cascade zones
658/659 and surrounding valleys. Onshore flow made it to the
Olympics last night - and with an additional round setting up this
afternoon concerns for fire weather are waning for the mountains
there. While no significant wind or instability is expected in the
near term, and thus no need for any fire weather headlines, given
the persistent warm and dry conditions continued caution is highly
encouraged.
As mentioned, onshore flow will kick into gear this evening as a
stronger push of marine air enters western Washington. Very isolated
areas of 20-25% min RHs are possible in the Cascade valleys on
Saturday but widespread concerns are not expected. More benign fire
weather conditions will emerge on Sunday and lead into into early
next week. Cooler temperatures and increased moisture with much
better humidity recoveries are expected across the region.
18/41
&&
.SEW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WA...Heat Advisory until 10 PM PDT this evening for City of Seattle-
Downtown Everett / Marysville Area-Eastside-Foothills and
Valleys of Central King County-Foothills and Valleys of
Pierce and Southern King Counties-Foothills and Valleys
of Snohomish and Northern King Counties-Foothills and
Valleys of the North Cascades-Lowlands of Pierce and
Southern King Counties-Lowlands of Western Skagit and
Northwestern Snohomish Counties-Lowlands of Western
Whatcom County-Shoreline / Lynnwood / South Everett Area.
PZ...None.
&&
$$
NWS SEW Office Area Forecast Discussion