The clouds and light rain that have been darkening skies in southern King County should give way to dry weather and partly cloudy skies later today. And that’s just the first glimmer of nice fall weather in a week that promises to bring lots of mid-October sunshine.
That’s according to KPLU weather expert Cliff Mass, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington.
“By this afternoon it’ll be partly cloudy,” Mass said, and “completely dry in all of western Washington.”
Saturday will be very cloudy with some showers likely in the morning, due to a weather disturbance coming in aloft, Mass predicts.
“So the weather won’t be perfect for that big Husky game. Clouds and maybe a 30 percent chance of sprinkles,” he said, with a higher chance of precipitation in the mountains, where he even expects some snow is possible above 4,500 feet.
Then on Sunday, things will really change, says Mass.
“A huge ridge and area of high pressure develops over the eastern Pacific, and amazingly, it’s going to stay in place all through the end of this week. So we are going to have one of these rare, wonderful mid-October periods: sun, temperatures up in the 60s, high pressure, clearing skies and no precipitation.”
Mass predicts glorious weather starting late Sunday or Monday due to a very stable pattern called an Omega Block.
“So it basically looks like all next week, we’re going to be under a ridge with sinking air and warm and dry conditions,” Mass said.
Cliff Mass will give a talk on "The Future of Weather Forecasting" in Bellingham on Oct 15 about the development of weather prediction from folk sayings to numerical weather prediction.
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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.
