‘Please stay out of the water,’ WA state officials implore swimmers ahead of heat spike

Officials in Washington State are begging residents to use extreme caution if their plans include swimming during this weekend’s heat spike.

Despite temperatures that are expected to range about 10-15 degrees higher than typical for this time of year, water temperatures will still be very cold, making hypothermia a real risk. Hypothermia becomes a risk when the water is 70 degrees or cooler.

“After a cool and wet spring, most of the population has little to no acclimation to heat and therefore could be caught off guard by the rapid warm-up,” noted the National Weather Service’s Seattle office in an advisory released on June 22.

The advisory also noted the elevated risk of a “significant increase in cold and high water-related incidents” over the weekend. That is partially due to mountain runoff of winter snow into lakes, rivers and creeks.