Washington: 80s in the west, 90s in the east ... where's hottest?

The National Weather Service says Washington is in for one of the hottest stretches of summer this week.

Forecasters say high temperatures will be in the 80s in Western Washington and 90s in Eastern Washington.

Forecasters say a high pressure system causing the warm sunny weather is likely to last through next weekend.

For the curious

What is the warmest place on Earth? Warmest in the Northwest? asks Cliff Mass, KPLU weather commentator and professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington.

"Perennially chilled Pacific Northwest folks are naturally interested in warmth and so I thought I might share some results of very interesting article in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, which attempts to find the hottest place on earth and here in the NW."

Mass reports that the warmest location in the Pacific Northwest is ... the Hanford Nuclear Reservation where there are no irrigated fields. Such fields have a large impact on temperature, Mass writes.

On the Web:

• Cliff Mass Weather Blog