This year, the only umbrellas needed will be to provide some shade from the searing heat that's entrenched into the area this weekend.

We have a building thermal trough to blame, and that's pulling in a lot of hot air from Eastern Washington.

As that air sinks and compresses as it comes down the Cascades, it gets even hotter and drier.

How hot? Temperatures around western Washington should make it into the low 90s Saturday -- maybe even mid 90s along the foothills where that warm air is tumbling down the hillside. Even the coast will bake in the mid-upper 80s today, so unless you're going to Alaska today or summiting Mt. Rainier, there's really nowhere close to escape the heat.

How dry? Very. Humidities were expected to be in the 15-30% range this afternoon. This is a good news/bad news situation for the area. The good news is -- it makes for a desert-like dry heat so it's not quite as suffocating as a 90 degree day would feel in, say, Atlanta.

Check this image below for the latest current temperature, updated once an hour at roughly 10 minutes past:

If you don't see your city listed, you can try this link as well. This link will also show you the relative humidity, if you're so inclined to find out just how dry it is.

But the bad news is, it's making a very bad fire season even worse. Conditions are just about the worst they can ever be in this area for wildfires -- a historically dry summer (second driest on record with only 0.08" since June 17th), very hot temperatures, and that east wind blowing to dry things out even more as well has providing a way to fan the flames of any fire that does start.

Some fire officials says the wildfire risk hasn't been this high since the mid 80s.

Also, with the sunny holiday weekend comes jam-packed campsites, and firefighters are desperate to get the word out to campers to take extra care.

The fire danger at most campgrounds is high, and with so many areas so parched, a small spark could start a big fire. So campers are being asked to make sure their campfires, lighters, cigarettes -- anything and everything that can burn -- is under control.

How Long Does This Last?

Another very hot day is expected Sunday, with temperatures in the same range as Saturday -- into the upper 80s and low 90s. It might be a degree or two cooler on the official thermometer as the east wind subsides a bit, but it'll be hard to notice. (Should be much cooler along the coast though.)

We start to push in some marine air on Sunday night, knocking temperatures back to the low 80s, but long range forecasts continue this very dry streak through next week and into next weekend, with above normal temperatures in the upper 70s until perhaps some cooler weather next weekend.

In the meantime, keep that bumbershoot handy, but the rain jacket can safely stay in the closet :)