Hottest Start To October In Decades: Puget Sound Forecast

SEATTLE — An unusual spring and summer have given way to an equally odd start to fall in Puget Sound, with a string of 80-degree days likely to kick off October.

It’s a familiar tale for 2022, which has toppled weather records left and right since the beginning. According to the National Weather Service, Seattle’s afternoon highs averaged 74.7 degrees in September, making for the warmest in 33 years and the fourth-hottest on record, logging 23 days at or above 70 degrees.

With the turning of the calendar Saturday, things are poised to heat up even more.

The latest forecast for the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport shows highs landing within a degree of the 80s Saturday through Monday, which would be the warmest start for October in nearly 30 years. Sunday looks the most likely to break the threshold, but Saturday and Monday have a good shot, too.

Although hotter October days have been recorded, Seattle has never seen consecutive 80-degree days in October, forecasters said. Daily records may also fall Sunday and Monday.

“If not for the warmest day on record in October on [Oct. 1, 1987], highs tomorrow would be in record range,” NWS Seattle wrote Friday. “Little change in the pattern Sunday with highs once gain in the 70s and lower 80s. With record highs much lower, many high temperature records are in jeopardy.”

The unseasonable run of summer-like weather should begin to taper off Tuesday, but the sunshine looks to be sticking around for the foreseeable future with highs in the mid-70s. According to the Climate Prediction Center, the warmer, drier trend may stick around through the second week of October.

Here is the five-day weather outlook for the Seattle area:

• Saturday: 79°/55° (Sunny)
• Sunday: 80°/55° (Sunny)
• Monday: 79°/55° (Sunny)
• Tuesday: 77°/55° (Mostly sunny)
• Wednesday: 74°/55° (Partly sunny)