Spokane just sweltered through the city’s third-hottest summer on record

Spokane just notched its third-hottest summer in recorded history. This ranking means the city’s three most-scorching summers occurred in the past nine years – 2021, 2015 and now, 2024.

First, a recap of summer 2024. Prolonged stretches of heat and dryness dominated the season, making the period of June 1 through Aug. 31 warmer by 4.3 degrees than the long-term summertime average.

While temperatures in June and August were abnormally warm in Spokane, July was the big scorcher. So much so, that it bears the distinction of being hotter than any other month since daily recording began in 1881. Las Vegas and Palm Springs and Sacramento in California also sizzled through their all-time hottest months in July. It’s remarkable that Spokane shares an unsurpassed heat record with cities where intense hot weather is considered ordinary.

What elevated the Lilac City to such record-shattering territory in July? High temperatures ran above normal each day from July 1 to July 24, often by more than 10 degrees. On six of those days, the mercury reached triple digits, including 104 degrees on July 10 and 107 on July 21. The last time Spokane saw temperatures close to that level was on June 29, 2021, when the city registered its hottest temperature recorded: 109 degrees, which still stands today.

All said, summer 2021 remains Spokane’s hottest summer on record, when the Pacific Northwest suffered a heatwave that killed hundreds of people, including 20 in Spokane County. The city’s second-hottest summer occurred in 2015, when widespread severe heat and dryness contributed to “super-drought” conditions across much of Washington state and its largest wildfire season in history. In 2024, we emerged from what is officially Spokane’s third-hottest summer recorded.

What’s more, as you likely noticed, there was an absence of rain. June received 0.85 inches of rainfall at Spokane International Airport, compared to the average of 1.25 inches for that month. July was the driest, with a mere 0.01 inches of rain compared to the average amount of 0.52. August offered just 0.26 inches, in contrast to the month’s normal amount of 0.58.

Overall, only 1.12 inches of precipitation fell during the three-month period, a rainfall deficit of about 1.23 inches below average.

The persistent presence of high-pressure systems over the western United States was the main driver of our unusually warm summer. These sprawling atmospheric patterns push hot, dry air toward the ground and then trap it, like a lid on a pan. At the same time, they push storm systems away.

It’s not as though high-pressure ridges dissipate once August ends. As kids were returning to school in early September, our region experienced a blast of abnormal late-season heat. From Sept. 1 through Sept. 9, high temperatures ran well above average, with five of those days reaching into the 90s, including 97 degrees on Sept. 1. During this period, even our overnight lows were high.

By midmonth, temperatures finally cooled to levels we typically see that time of year. We also got our first dousing of rain.

September’s unusually hot opening probably set the month up to be warmer than average overall.

Even so, the weather is expected to be seasonally normal and pleasant through Sept. 30.

That said, it’s highly unlikely we’ll see another flare of extreme heat until 2025. So as daylight hours shrink and the first leaves change to yellow and orange, it may be time to enjoy a pumpkin spice latte again.

Nic Loyd is a meteorologist in Washington state. Linda Weiford is a writer in Moscow, Idaho, who’s also a weather geek.