A picture perfect 4th of July Holiday today! Sunny skies and highs in the upper 70s and low 80s earlier this afternoon.

Skies will remain clear overnight as we enjoy dazzling fireworks displays around our area. Temperatures will be near 70 during the time the fireworks are lit off. Overnight we will drop into the 50s. This will be our last cooler night for a while as the heat settles in this weekend. 

We will turn up the heat a little more beginning tomorrow as spots will warm into the upper 80s. There are many locations like Olympia, Shelton and Centralia along with our Cascade Foothills which will see 90s beginning tomorrow. 

A heat wave is forecast to settle into the Pacific Northwest beginning on Friday-Tuesday. A Heat Advisory has been issued for most of western Washington and Northeast Washington. An Excessive Heat Warning has been issued for areas around Central Washington, Spokane, Pullman, Kelso, Portland, and the Columbia River Gorge. The risk of heat-related illnesses will be elevated this weekend, so make sure you are drinking plenty of water and finding ways to stay cool.

Puget Sound will see some of the warmest temperatures so far this season beginning Friday. Record heat is forecast for Sunday and near-record warmth for Monday and Tuesday. 

In addition to the record heat during this heat wave, parts of Washington will see an elevated fire risk. A Fire Weather Watch will go into effect on Saturday morning through Sunday evening. 

Relief from the heat will slow. We are forecasting three days straight of 90 degree temperatures in metro locations. We will start to back off the heat a bit by the middle of the week, but even with temperatures in the low to mid 80s, that is still almost 10 degrees warmer than average. 

Since their inception as an NFL franchise, the Seattle Seahawks have had no shortage of explosive playmakers on offense and special teams.

In commemoration of the Independence Day holiday, which players provided the most fireworks while donning a Seahawks uniform?

Athletically, as the man would attest himself, Largent wasn’t even close to one of the most explosive players to wear a Seahawks uniform in terms of speed or quickness. But the all-time great torched defenses throughout his career with elite route running and underrated burst, scoring 16 touchdowns of 40 or more yards in the regular season and playoffs. Even more notably, he found the end zone 50 times in the regular season on scoring tosses exceeding 20 yards, making him the most dangerous big play threat in franchise history despite not being a 4.3 40-yard dash burner.

While Turner’s career unfortunately didn’t seem to last much longer than one of his vintage deep ball touchdowns due to off-field issues, few players in NFL history dominated as dangerous big play maestros more than he did during four seasons with the Seahawks. Scoring 36 touchdowns in that brief span, 14 of those scores went for at least 30 yards, including eight of them for 40-plus yards. Earning the nickname “Burner” Turner, he averaged 18.5 yards per reception in his career, easily the highest mark for any Seahawk with 100 or more catches during their time with the team.

Arguably the best all-around explosive playmaker in Seahawks history, Lockett has made his mark in the NFL both as a standout receiver and kick/punt returner. While he had to wait his turn to become a focal point offensively, he earned All-Pro honors as a rookie returning a kickoff and a punt for touchdowns during his rookie season in 2015 and added another touchdown on special teams in 2016. He eventually stopped returning kicks as he took on a bigger role on offense, but in eight NFL seasons, he has amassed 26 touchdown receptions of 30 or more yards in the regular season with 15 of those netting 40-plus yards.

Known as a glider more than a speed merchant as he racked up five straight seasons with 1,100 rushing yards from 2001 to 2005, Alexander surprised defenders with his burst at 220-plus pounds, often leaving them grasping for air or bouncing off of him with failed arm tackles before taking off to daylight. The former MVP scored eight touchdowns – including seven of the rushing variety – that went 40 or more yards during his time with the Seahawks. What set him apart, however, was his 74 combined rushes and receptions of 20-plus yards, showing his consistency producing explosive plays over the course of his illustrious career.

One of the most dynamic dual threat quarterbacks in NFL history, Wilson ripped off 35 runs of 20 or more yards – including a trio of touchdowns – in 10 seasons with the Seahawks, giving opponents fits both on read options and extended pass plays where he tucked and ran. Most notably, he earned a reputation as an assassin throwing the deep ball, launching 58 touchdown passes of 30 or more yards through the air and eclipsing eight yards per attempt four times during that span.

A first-round pick out of Ohio State, Galloway only played five seasons for the Seahawks, but few players struck fear in opponents more than he did. One of the most dangerous returners in the sport, he took four punts back to the house for six points in those five seasons, providing instant offense on special teams on numerous occasions. On offense, even with lackluster quarterback play for much of his time in Seattle, he scored 12 receiving touchdowns of 40-plus yards and even added an 86-yard rushing touchdown for good measure.

Coming out of Ferrum College, Warren began his career with the Seahawks primarily as a special teams player, but made an impact with a punt return for a touchdown as a rookie. He eventually took over as Seattle’s starting running back and brought the juice as a runner and receiver, scoring nine rushing touchdowns of 30 or more yards and tacking on a pair of 20-20-plus yard touchdown receptions.

A key cog in Seattle’s explosive offenses from the mid-2000’s, Jackson lit up opposing secondaries as a deep ball threat in Mike Holmgren’s offense, scoring 13 receiving touchdowns of 40 or more yards. He also came through with big plays in the playoffs, scoring a trio of touchdowns of 20 or more yards in postseason games.

While “Beast Mode” became a superstar because of his bruising, physical running style, he also provided plenty of sparks as a home run threat out of the backfield. During his time in Seattle, he produced eight touchdown runs of 20-plus yards, but his greatest heroics came in the postseason, including the famous 67-yard “Beast Quake” run to put away the Saints in the 2010 Wild Card round and a 40-40-yard score against the 49ers in the 2013 NFC Championship game.Game. in total, he found the end zone five times on 20-plus yard runs.

Primarily a special teamer, Washington had one 48-yard run on offense as a Seahawk. But oncoming tacklers were frequently left empty-empty-handed when they tried to corral him on kick and punt returns, as he scored four special teams touchdowns in three seasons with the franchise. He averaged 26.2 yards per kick return, the highest mark in team history, and also ranks third in punt return yardage.

The Seattle Mariners are not going to be bringing top pitching prospect Logan Evans up to help the major league bullpen. Evans is currently pitching at Double-A Arkansas.

Shannon Drayer of Seattle Sports 710 reports that the M’s are ending that experiment and will be allowing Evans to transition back into a starter. They had hoped utilizing him as a reliever would help the big league club and would accelerate his timeline for a major league debut.

Per Drayer:

Of his 10 relief outings, seven were scoreless. His performance out of the bullpen was satisfactory, but the Mariners did not see the uptick in stuff they thought they might. Placing a high value on his arm, the decision was made to end the experiment.

“When we did get it (the uptick), it came at the expense of command,” said assistant general manager Andy McKay. “This kid’s telling us he’s a starter. It’s just who he is.”

The Mariners have made this move before with rousing success, so there was optimism that it would work with Evans. The team previously turned Edwin Diaz into an All-Star closer and also turned Matt Brash into a dynamite reliever. They also turned Prelander Berroa into a reliever, but he was traded to the Chicago White Sox this past offseason.

Evans is the highest-ranked prospect in the organization and is a Top 100 prospect in baseball, according to Baseball America.

He’s 8-2 for the season with a 2.17 ERA. He’s worked 62.1 innings on the year so at the very least, the relief experiment has helped keep his overall workload down for the year. He threw only 15.0 innings a season ago.

The Mariners are 47-41 at the major league level and lead the American League West by 2.0 games over the Houston Astros. They’ll play the Orioles one last time on Thursday at T-Mobile Park. First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m. PT.

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