If you’re needing a walk this weekend — of the leisurely kind — you’d better get outdoors early Friday. That’s the word from KPLU weather expert Cliff Mass.
Mass, who teaches atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington, says lots more of the wet, windy weather is headed our way. And there’s potential for a major windstorm to hit Seattle on Sunday.
“Unfortunately, later today, another weather system is going to move up the coast, precipitation is going to increase this afternoon and it will get a little breezier,” he said of Friday’s outlook.
Systems Revving Up Late Friday
On Friday night, he says a much stronger front will come in.
“So, sometime after midnight, a fairly powerful front with heavy rain and much windier conditions will come through in the early morning hours (Saturday) and it will move through sometime around 9, 10 o’clock,” he said.
“Now, in the lee of that there will be some showers,” Mass says explaining that the biggest weather will come through in waves, as a couple of systems move through, one after the other.
So Saturday will also be a cooler day, with temperatures only getting up to about 50 degrees.
Then it really gets exciting
Sunday, A Major Storm (Possibly)
“The big worry now is on Sunday,” Mass said.
“The latest computer simulations suggest a fairly powerful low-pressure system will be moving in to our region,” but added that there is some uncertainty about it. “Some models take it more offshore, some more inland. But if the best model we have – the GFS model – is right, we could have a pretty substantial windstorm on Sunday.”
He says in any case, brace yourselves for wet conditions if you live in Western Washington.
“At the very least, we will have a lot of rain in morning and early afternoon” he said of Sunday’s forecast. “So people will have to be watching that.”
Mellower Workaday Weather Next Week
He says Monday, a showery regime will settle in with the prospect of some clearing soon after.
“It actually improves by mid-week,” Mass says.
“So, get out there now,” he says. And be prepared with rain gear that won’t blow away.
“We have a lot of weather coming up this weekend.”
That means ideal conditions for getting to the all-new lecture that Cliff will deliver this coming Wednesday night, 7:30 at Kane Hall on the UW Seattle campus. It's called "Weather Forecasting: From Superstition to Supercomputers--a Fundraiser for Save KPLU"There will also be a Q&A with the audience (yours truly presiding) and a special reception for higher-level donors. You can get tickets and all the details by clicking here.
The weekly KPLU feature ‘Weather with Cliff Mass’ airs every Friday at 9 a.m. immediately following ‘BirdNote’, and twice on Friday afternoons during ‘All Things Considered’. The feature is hosted by KPLU Environment Reporter Bellamy Pailthorp. Cliff Mass is a University of Washington professor of atmospheric sciences, a renowned Seattle weather prognosticator, and a popular weather blogger. You can also subscribe to a podcast of ‘Weather with Cliff Mass’ shows.
