Thunderstorms forecast Wednesday in Washington

SEATTLE — Forecasters say a stormy day Wednesday could bring heavy rain to Western Washington and thunderstorms to Eastern Washington where lightning could spark new wildfires and flash floods could sweep debris down freshly burned hills. The National Weather Service says an inch-and-a-half of rain could fall in Western Washington breaking records for July 23. The record for that date in Seattle is .54 inches set in 1949. Thunderstorms forecast for Eastern Washington could bring heavy rain to the east slopes of the Cascades. And storms across northeast Washington could produce damaging winds and large hail. Forecasters expect dry weather will return by the weekend with highs in the 80s in Western Washington and 90s in Eastern Washington.