Hottest Seattle summer ever? We're getting very close.

SEATTLE--   As the thermometers climb this afternoon, the Q13 FOX weather team expects we'll get above 80 degrees again today. That's happened a lot this summer. Today is expected be the 40th time this year we've hit 80 degrees or warmer at SeaTac Int'l Airport where official National Weather Service records are kept. 80 degrees doesn't seem all that hot-- but for Seattle we only average 24 days of 80 or above temperatures in a typical summer season. 

HEAT_WAVE_07260547 days - 1958

46 days - 1967

45 days - 1961

40 days - 1987

40 days - 2013

40 days (so far) - 2014 

This summer has also had our 2nd longest heat wave on record. We had 12 days in the 80s from July 6th-17th. The longest ever was 14 days in a row back in 1977. The Seattle National Weather Service says that this July was our second hottest at SeaTac, if you count the average temperature (high + low, divided by 2). August average temperature came up as the 5th warmest in a city known more for clouds and rain than summer sizzle.   

What's been nice for a lot of people here in Western Washington is that while it's been warm, this summer has not been too hot. We've stayed far away from our all-time hottest day ever of 103 degrees on July 29th, 2009. A typical summer season in Seattle has 3 days of 90 or above temperatures, which we've done already for 2014. Our warmest day so far this year will likely end up being August 11th when we topped out at 96 degrees.

I think we'll still see more days above 80, so we're not finished with our current climb into the record books. The current forecast calls for days #41 and #42 of 80 plus temps this weekend. And perhaps another round of warmth looming next weekend-- putting us very close to the all time record of 47 days set more than five decades ago. Summer might end officially in this time zone on September 22nd, but the latest on the calendar we've ever seen a temperature above 80 at SeaTac is October 14th. Enjoy. -Tim Joyce, Q13 FOX Meteorologist