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Dry Friday, Warm Rainy Weekend Ahead In Western Washington

Bill Devlin
/
Flickr via Compfight
Mt Rainier waking up in the soft morning light in the Washington Cascades on December 15, 2015.

Thursday’s weather offered a brief respite from the long spell of above-normal temperatures that have prevailed in Western Washington lately, but it won’t last. Expect another warmup and plenty of rain this weekend, says knkx weather expert Cliff Mass.

“It is amazing to note that yesterday was the first normal day we’ve had all fall,” Mass said of Thursday’s weather. “And I mean normal, getting a typical high and typical low. It hasn’t been like that. We’ve been way, way warm. It finally dropped to normal temperature range. And that produced snow in the mountains and everything we know and love.”

Dry Beginning To Stormy Weekend

He says the warmer temps will return this weekend with a weather system that is looming off shore on the West Coast.

“A classical-looking cyclone. And that’s starting to push warmer air up toward us,” Mass said.

He says the first sign of that will be clouds, streaming in on Friday.

“But we’ll have a basically dry day, temperatures getting up somewhere in the upper 50s. So, not a bad day at all,” he said.

Then a front will come through Friday night into Saturday morning, bringing in some steady rain. Mass says it will pass through in the morning.

Wet And Warm Saturday

“And I think Saturday will be a day that we’ll have some showers, there’ll be some substantial sunbreaks, so it’s not going to be raining all day,” he said.  He expects temperatures to reach up to 56-57.

“So, it’s going to be way above normal. Normal is about 51 for Seattle,” Mass said.

Windy Late Sunday

On Sunday, that weather pattern will continue early in the day with more showers and highs in the mid-50s again. Then, later in the day, Mass says the low system that’s offshore will pass north of us.

“So we’ll not only have some rain that’ll be becoming steady on Sunday afternoon, but the winds will pick up,” he said. “So I expect gusty winds later on on Sunday and into Sunday night.”

Stormy Thanksgiving Week

Next week, Mass says it looks like there is a series of systems coming in, which is pretty typical for mid-November.

“Remember, this is the stormiest time of the year climatologically, so we have to be ready for it,” he said.  

To hear the forecast along with Cliff’s take on why meteorologists are so excited about the launch of the next-generation satellite known as GOES-R, you can click on the “play” icon at the top of this post.

The weekly knkx 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 knkx 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.

Bellamy Pailthorp covers the environment for KNKX with an emphasis on climate justice, human health and food sovereignty. She enjoys reporting about how we will power our future while maintaining healthy cultures and livable cities. Story tips can be sent to bpailthorp@knkx.org.