Excessive heat warning in effect

COLFAX— The National Weather Service is forecasting that its going to get hotter.

“We are looking at the potential for some dangerous heat to come in. It will start to get hot on Sunday,” Meterologist, Steven Van Horn said in a July 22 briefing. “We’re going to be looking for most of the heat to be coming next week. An increase for heat related illnesses as the temperatures continue to warm up and get hot.”

By Monday, the agency upgraded its forecast and issued an excessive heat warning for all of Eastern Washington’and most of North Idaho.

The excessive heat warning extends until 11 p.m. Saturday night.

Triple digits are expected across Whitman County on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The high Thursday was expected to be 101, Friday 102 and Saturday 100.

By Sunday, the high is expected to dip slightly to 98 degrees.

The temperatures will be 8-17 degrees above normal for this time of the year, the weather agency reported.

“There are very hot temperatures starting today,” Van Horn said. “We will be seeing some relief for those temperatures during the weekend.”

Meterologist Rocco Pelatti confirmed Whitman County will see high temperatures.

“The overnight low temperatures look like they’re going to be in the mid-60s”, he said. “Thursday and Friday look like they will be the hottest days. It’s unusually high for this time of year.”

Pelatti said that the temperatures will be near record highs in Whitman County.

The Thursday temperature at 100 degrees would beat the Pullman record at 98 in 2014.

Saturday’s predicted temperature of 102 would top the record high last year at 101 at the regional airport.

“Downside is that a lot of people will have some trouble cooling their buildings during the night hours,” Pelatti said. “This is high risk for those that aren’t able to have cooling or hydration, so they don’t have access to water or shelter from the heat.”

Animals can get stressed from the heat, too.

Pelatti recommends those with pets and livestock make sure that they are sheltered from the heat and have access to water.

The Spokane National Weather Service gives some recommendation for staying safe in the heat by limiting outdoor activities, drinking plenty of water, wearing light clothing and sun screen, and working outdoors early or very late in the day.