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Caribbean-Like Water Temperatures In Green Lake? Maybe This Week.

July 31, 2017 6:22am

Photo via hubpages.com

If there’s one thing you can usually be sure of, it’s that the only place you find 80 degree water temperatures in Seattle is a heated swimming pool. But that might not be the case by the later half of this week. On the 24th of July, water temperatures in Green Lake (measured at a depth of about 3 feet) were 75-77 degrees. This follows a month of seasonably comfortable high (air) temperatures in the 70s and 80s. That’s about to change. A very strong ridge of high pressure will build over Western Washington this week. Combined with offshore (easterly) winds, temperatures across the Seattle area will be in the 90s from as early as Tuesday through Friday. In fact, we could be near 100 on Thursday. This could be the hottest stretch of weather we’ve seen since the heat wave of July 2009 when the all-time record of 103 degrees was set. What’s amazing about this potential hot streak is the fact that computer models have been forecasting it so far in advance. In 2009, computer models didn’t latch on to triple digit temperature possibilities until 2 or 3 days beforehand. A sustained stretch of weather this warm and overnight low temperatures in the 60s (or even lower 70s in the city) will likely boost that Green Lake water temperature close to 80 degrees. Unlike the lake water, Puget Sound will stay cold. Fed by cold Pacific tidal currents, its water temperature doesn’t get above the lower 50s regardless of season.

 

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