A rapid melt of mountain snowpack in eastern and central Washington is pushing some rivers to high levels not seen in decades.
It’s not that unusual, says KNKX weather expert Cliff Mass, who expects the mild weather nearer to the coast to continue through this weekend.
“It’s going to be decent, but it’s not going to be a heatwave,” said Mass, who teaches atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington.
On Friday, he said there was an upper level trough above the greater Seattle area, which was causing cloudy weather with a few sprinkles rotating around the region.
“So there could be a little bit of light rain, especially toward to mountains, but I don’t expect much – temperatures only getting in the upper 60s,” he said.
“So just a typical May day.”
Weekend Forecast: Mild With Sprinkels
He says the weekend will start with quite a lot of clouds on Saturday morning and temperatures getting to about 70 on Saturday, with a chance of some light showers.
“Particularly in the foothills of the Cascades – so if you’re thinking of a hike, you might get sprinkled on.”
He says he expects a lot of low clouds in the morning on Sunday, but with mainly dry weather.
“Temperatures again getting up to 70 – maybe low 70s, so it’s not going to be particularly cool, but we do have this upper level trough situation that’s over us.
Hotter Next Week
Mass says as the work week begins, a ridge of high pressure will develop, pushing the mercury up as temperatures rise much higher.
“I expect the temperatures to zoom up into the 70s, maybe even to 80 by the time we get to mid-week.
“So — you know, it won’t be bad this weekend, but it’s not going to be that warm,” said Mass.
To hear the full conversation, including Cliff’s description of how and why the flooding in eastern Washington is not that unusual, you can click on the 'play' icon at the top of this post.
Weather with Cliff Mass airs at 9:02 on KNKX.
