Yakima sets record with 103-degree high Sunday, but air quality remains an issue

YAKIMA — Sunday was the hottest Aug. 15 on record in Yakima, topping out at an unofficial 103 degrees.

While that reading will have to be verified, it appears to have topped the previous record of 101 recorded in 2008, said Pendleton, Ore.-based National Weather Service meteorologist Rob Brooks.

Meanwhile, the smoke that has blanketed the Yakima Valley for the past week dissipated significantly over the course of the day Sunday. Yakima’s air quality index peaked at 166 at 6 a.m. and remained above 150, the standard for “unhealthy” air, until noon when it was measured at 143. By 5 p.m. the AQI had improved to 88, which qualifies as “moderate” quality. The state Department of Ecology’s smoke forecast, however, predicts local air quality will be back to unhealthy by Tuesday with that status lingering through at least Thursday.

The smoke has come from regional wildfires including the fast-growing Schneider Springs Fire northwest of Naches. The arrival of an air resource adviser on the Schneider Springs Fire Sunday should help officials understand and predict the impact of smoke from that fire, said Micah Bell, lead spokesman for the interagency management team on the fire.

“As this fire continues to grow, that’s going to be pretty important,” he said.

While smoke is predicted to be an issue throughout the week, we should get some relief from the heat starting Monday. Sunday’s high of 103 represents the end of the most recent extreme heat wave. Monday’s high is expected to be 91, and Tuesday’s is 80. It’s not expected to be higher than 91 for the rest of the week.

It has already been a summer of record-setting heat in Yakima, owing mostly to the historic heat dome that covered the Pacific Northwest in June. A string of triple-digit days that month topped out at 113 degrees on June 29, shattering the previous highest recorded temperature in Yakima, 110 on Aug. 10, 1971.