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Will we break the 'dry' record? Cliff Mass says, Unlikely

Jake Ellison
/
KPLU

The record for consecutive days without rain at Seatac is 51 days, set in 1951. To break that record, we'd need to see no rain through Tuesday.

"I think we are probably going to get to 49, but I don't think we'll get to 50 or 51," says KPLU weather expert Cliff Mass, a professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington. "It's tragic. But we're going to be happy with the second longest streak of dry weather in Seattle history."

Even though the forecast says there's a 50% chance of rain late Sunday evening or on Monday, Mass says across that entire 24-hour period, the chances are more like 70%.

"It's tragic for many of us, because we want to get the big record," says Mass.

Friday and Saturday will be quite warm, in the 80's around the Puget Sound region. But, it will start cooling off along the coast by Saturday morning, he says, and by Sunday morning that cool marine air will make it's way to Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia and Bellingham.

Hear about that, and why western Washington has a Mediterranean climate, just like California, in this week's podcast.

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Do you have a weather question? Cliff Mass and Keith Seinfeld occasionally answer reader questions on the air. Share yours at the bottom of our Questions page (you can click on Discussion and see the "newest").

The weekly KPLU feature "Weather with Cliff Mass" airs every Friday at 9 a.m. immediately following BirdNote, and repeats twice on Friday afternoons during All Things Considered. The feature is hosted by KPLU’s Science and Health reporter Keith Seinfeld. Cliff Mass is a University of Washington Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, a renowned Seattle weather prognosticator, and a popular weather blogger. You can also subscribeto a podcast of “Weather with Cliff Mass”shows.

Keith Seinfeld is a former KNKX/KPLU reporter who covered health, science and the environment over his 17 years with the station. He also served as assistant news director. Prior to KLPU, he was a staff reporter at The Seattle Times and The News Tribune in Tacoma and a freelance writer-producer. His work has been honored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Knight Science Journalism Fellowships at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.