This heat could join a short list of longest 100° streaks in Spokane

July 27, 2022 2:27 PM

Matt Gray,

Posted: July 27, 2022 2:27 PM

Updated: July 27, 2022 9:55 PM

by Matt Gray

SPOKANE, Wash.– Triple-digit heat isn’t exactly a rarity in Spokane and the Inland Northwest. The Lilac City averages one day each year at 100 or above.

What makes this particular heat wave so unique is that up to five consecutive days of triple-digit heat are possible.

According to the National Blend of Computer Models used by the National Weather Service, Spokane has a 40% chance of hitting 100 or higher every day from Wednesday through Sunday. On Thursday and Friday, those odds are almost 80%. The First Alert Weather team calls for highs to hit 100 or get very close to it every day through Saturday.

Even two days in a row of triple-digits is a bit of a rarity in Spokane. There have been only 33 instances of multiple days in a row of 100° or higher since 1881. Out of those 33, 21 were two days in a row, nine were three days in a row, two were four in a row, and one streak of six in a row. That six-day streak of triple-digits came between July 23-28, 1928.

Should we hit 100° for five consecutive days, that would be the second-longest streak on record.

It's possible that the Spokane Airport will reach 100 degrees tomorrow through Saturday. If that were to occur, it would be 5 days of 100 degrees or warmer in a row. Only once has Spokane seen more than 4 consecutive days of 100+ degree days, and that was in July of 1928. #wawx

— NWS Spokane (@NWSSpokane) July 27, 2022

Four straight days of 100° or hotter this week would match the streak of 100s during the June 2021 heat wave. The key difference is that Spokane hit an all-time record high of 109° during that one. We won’t get nearly that hot this time.

As far as individual daily records, the record highs in Spokane on Thursday, Friday and Saturday are 102, 100, and 102. Record-tying or record-breaking heat is more likely than not on Thursday and Friday.

Even if we don’t hit 100° every day at the official climate station at Spokane International Airport, the urban heat island effect means heat in downtown and other dense urban parts of the city and surrounding cities will crack triple-digits.