Triple-digit temperatures have been recorded at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on only five days since 1945.
Three of those days just happened.
Saturday, Sunday and Monday rank in the top four hottest days in Seattle history, culminating in Monday’s record-breaking peak of 108 degrees.
The only other days that saw temperatures close to those numbers were in 1994 and 2009. This year stands as the only year with more than one day hitting temperatures over 100 degrees. Here is the list of Seattle’s five hottest days on record from the National Weather Service:
- June 28, 2021: 108 degrees
- June 27, 2021: 104 degrees
- July 29, 2009: 103 degrees
- June 26, 2021: 102 degrees
- July 20, 1994: 100 degrees
It has never been this hot for this many consecutive days in Seattle, especially not this early in the year.
Could things get even worse? This year’s forecasts have left climate scientists and meteorologists in disbelief. They worry that as climate change continues, heat waves could become more frequent and even more severe. According to a 2018 report by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, temperatures in the Northwest have risen by almost two degrees since 1900.
If that’s the case, we might be rewriting the record books again soon.
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