More hot weather for Tri-Cities this week, month could be near normal

Temperatures that top 100 degrees are expected to persist in the Tri-Cities for two more days.

The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for temperatures Wednesday through Friday this week, with temperatures expected to be above 100 for three days straight.

Wednesday the high at the Pasco airport hit 100 degrees shortly before 3 p.m.

Thursday and Friday the high is forecast at 103 degrees.

The weather will be warm enough — particularly with Tri-City residents not yet acclimated to sustained heat this summer — to present a risk of heat stress or more serious heat strokes.

Drink plenty of water and, if you are doing outdoor work, take rest breaks in the shade or in air-conditioned buildings, advises the weather service.

The Tri-Cities will get little relief from the heat overnight, with lows expected in the mid 60s.

A fire weather watch will be in effect Friday afternoon through Friday evening as gusty winds join the mix of high temperatures and low humidity, according to the weather service.

Any wildfires can be expected to spread rapidly. Outdoor burning is not recommended.

For the month of July, the weather service expects temperatures to average about normal or a little warmer.

Normal highs in the Tri-Cities in July are about 90 degrees and normal lows are about 60 degrees.

June was slightly warmer than usual in the Tri-Cities, with high temperatures averaging 1.9 degrees above normal in Kennewick and low temperatures averaging about 1.2 degrees above normal.

The temperature topped 100 degrees on two days. At the Pasco airport, the high was 102 degrees on June 25 and 103 degrees on June 26.

No daily temperature records were set at the Hanford Meteorology Station, which keeps daily records back to 1944. The 105 degrees recorded on June 26 came close, but was still 1 degree below the daily record.

Precipitation of 0.23 inch on June 15 easily beat the previous record for the day of 0.15 inch in 1964, according to the Hanford Meteorological Service.

It was the only measurable precipitation all month. Usually June has 0.55 inch of precipitation at Hanford.

In the Tri-Cities, precipitation also was below normal in June. In Pasco, 0.49 inches of precipitation was recorded, including 0.3 inch on June 26.

For the year, precipitation has totaled 6.92 inches in Kennewick, which is 2.62 inches above normal.

The peak wind gust for the month in the Tri-Cities was 59 mph in Richland during the thunderstorm of June 26. At Hanford, which was north of the path of the worst of the June 26 storm, the peak gust was 43 mph on June 12.

This story was originally published July 5, 2017 at 4:51 PM with the headline "More hot weather for Tri-Cities this week, month could be near normal."