‘Gray and drippy' weather in Seattle, but hottest day of 2026 is ahead
The "big show" is over after Thursday night's severe thunderstorms brought lightning, hail and 70 mph wind gusts to Central and Eastern Washington, starting small fires and forcing concert attendees at the Gorge Amphitheatre to shelter in their cars.
"There were just tons and tons of lightning strikes, gosh, for three or four hours," National Weather Service meteorologist Dana Felton said Friday morning.
The storms traveled from southeast Oregon and through much of Eastern and Central Washington, where lightning caused several small fires and winds downed power lines and trees in Grant County. Hail also fell in some areas, but not the 1-inch pieces reported in Oregon, Felton said.
At about 9:30 p.m. Thursday, the Gorge Amphitheatre told people camping for Brandi Carlile's concert to shelter inside their vehicles due to high winds and lightning. The venue announced it was safe for people to return to camp shortly before midnight.
The thunderstorms had "fizzled out" by about 2 a.m. Friday, once they hit the Cascades, Felton said. There is some chance of additional storms Friday afternoon, but "not nearly as strong" as Thursday's, he said.
Friday should be "gray and drippy" in Seattle, with showers dying off in the afternoon and a high around 60, Felton said.
Forecasters expect Seattle's weather to get drier and warmer into the weekend and next week. Cloudy skies should give way to sunshine by Saturday afternoon, with temperatures creeping into the mid-60s on Sunday and low 70s on Monday, Felton said.
Sunday night's clear skies should also give people a chance to see the blue moon, or the second full moon of this month. Because the moon is at its farthest distance from Earth so far this year, Sunday's full moon - also called a "micromoon" - may appear slightly dimmer and smaller than average, according to Smithsonian Magazine.
The next big weather story is the heat forecast in Western Washington on Tuesday, which has the potential to be the warmest day of the year so far, Felton said. Some cities like Olympia and Centralia could see temperatures in the low 90s, while the coast could see highs in the 80s, he said.
Conditions should be slightly cooler on Tuesday in Seattle, where temperatures could climb into the low 80s before they "cool right back down" to the mid-60s and lower 70s on Wednesday, Felton said.
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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 9:38 AM.