Last Day of Heat in the Northwest

Another round of intense heat is coming to an end across portions of the Northwest. Heat alerts are still in effect on Saturday but a surge of monsoonal moisture, followed by a trough of low pressure later in the week, will help to keep temperatures out of record breaking territory for some time to come. This is due to a large ridge of high pressure that is drawing hot and humid air up from the south. This will be in place through Saturday before breaking down a bit. This is nothing like the heat wave from earlier this summer, but it will be very hot through Saturday. Some cooler air will move in to the I-5 corridor by Sunday as the high pressure weakens. Monsoonal moisture will surge into the Northwest Sunday too. This will increase cloud cover, chances for rain, and help hold temperatures down. The overall trend for spots like Spokane is a cooldown through the weekend as rain and thunderstorms increase. As moisture moves away temperatures will return to above average numbers through the first half of the week before an upper-level low helps to usher in below average temperatures. For more on the heat, join WeatherNation  :50 past for the western U.S. regional forecast.