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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Spokane just experienced its most sweltering month on record; more heat in store for August

With temperature heading into the high 90s, Candy Smith and her grandchildren, front to back, Jael Smith, 5; Sarah Smith, 3; Titus Smith, 4; and Eliza Smith, 7, float on the cool waters of the Little Spokane River on Friday in Pine River Community Park. (COLIN MULVANY/THE SPOKESMAN-REVI)
By Nic Loyd and Linda Weiford For The Spokesman-Review

Talk about a double weather whammy. As August kicks off with another punishing heat wave, July closed as being the hottest month recorded in Spokane.

Not just the hottest month of July, mind you, but the hottest overall month since the National Weather Service began documenting Spokane’s temperatures in 1881. With this shattered record, the Lilac City joins hot-spot cities such as Las Vegas and California’s Sacramento and Palm Springs for clocking their hottest months in July .

A prolonged stretch of hot days dominated last month, with temperatures in Spokane running above normal every day from July 1 to July 24. During that period, 14 days ran at least 10 degrees higher than average, with six climbing to 100 degrees or higher, including a sweltering 107 degrees on July 21.

They elevated Spokane’s average temperature to 8 degrees warmer than the historical July average, nudging out the city’s previous monthly heat record set in July 2021.

In summer 2021, the region suffered a deadly heat wave from June 26 to July 2, with Spokane registering its highest temperature recorded of 109 degrees on June 29. Then, another round of excessive heat arrived a week later. While July ’s temperatures didn’t climb as high as in 2021, the duration of heat lasted much longer.

With July barely in the rearview window, August is off to a scorching start, with Spokane reaching 101 on Thursday and 105 on Friday.

An excessive heat warning issued by the National Weather Service remains in effect through 8 p.m. Saturday.

There’s a chance of brief thunderstorms overnight and into Sunday, when temperatures are expected to dip into the upper 80s. Then the mercury should rise to the mid-90s on Monday and Tuesday.

For people seeking relief from the heat this weekend, the City of Spokane will offer several cooling resources, including extended hours at some public library locations and the Trent Resource and Assistance Center .

“Warmer than average weather will persist through the end of next week,” NWS Spokane stated on its online forecast discussion. The outlook for August from the Climate Prediction Center is a toasty one, with a strong chance of above-normal temperatures across Eastern Washington and below-normal precipitation.

As we began slogging through what may be a sizzling August, there’s something to assist us that wasn’t around in 2021. A new online tool called HeatRisk rates heat-related risks to the public over the next seven days.

The interactive site, developed by the National Weather Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gives the heat forecast and correlating health risks, as well as air quality levels.

HeatRisk was launched to better prepare Americans for heat waves. Each year, extreme heat kills more than 1,200 people in the United States, the CDC estimates. Intense heat is the top weather-related killer in the U.S. – “more than hurricanes, floods and tornadoes combined,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Nic Loyd is a meteorologist in Washington state. Linda Weiford is a writer in Moscow, Idaho, who’s also a weather geek.