Western Washington prepares for heat wave this week

The Northwest is slated for a heat wave this week, with temperatures reaching the 90s and potentially breaking records.

High temperatures are expected to hit the low 90s Tuesday, and potentially stay that high through Thursday or Friday (depending on the forecast you are looking at), lowering into the 80s through the weekend.

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The National Weather Service in Seattle has a heat advisory in effect starting at noon Tuesday through Friday for most of Western Washington.

It’s going to be especially hot this week for the majority of people in the Seattle area who have no air conditioning. Seattle is opening recreation centers, senior centers, and libraries along with pools and spray parks to give people a place to cool down.

But Kate Hutton, with Seattle’s Office of Emergency Management, says they’re hoping to go beyond that.

"We’ve been working to acquire some air conditioners for our senior centers that didn’t have air conditioning, because those are places people already go to congregate, and so we can bring the cooling into their existing routine. And that’s kind of more of our strategy going forward," Hutton said.

Hutton says the King County Regional Homelessness Authority will make a game-time call about whether and when to open overnight cooling centers.

Until then, public cooling centers will only be available during the day.

Seattle Human Services and outreach workers will be giving out water, doing welfare checks, and referring people to cooling centers through the week.

People around Seattle can escape the heat at libraries, community centers, and spaces like the Seattle Center Armory.

Cooling centers are open at select times throughout Western Washington.

Check for cooling centers in King County here.

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