The warm temperatures and sunny skies many folks have been enjoying this week in Western Washington will continue through most of the weekend and reappear after a short rainy spell Sunday night, says KPLU’s weather expert, Cliff Mass.
“The weather gods are still with us,” he said. And Friday will be a “really perfect day,” with temperatures reaching near 70, plenty of sun and no precipitation.
Saturday Morning Cool, Sunny Later
There will be a weak front of new weather moving through early Saturday morning, which will push a little bit of marine air into the region and could cool things off a bit temporarily. Mass says folks getting outdoors for exercise in the morning might want to be prepared.
“If you’re taking that fun run across the new 520 bridge, it may be a little bit cool as that marine air effect is still is in place,” he said. But he added that the sun will certainly break through soon enough on Saturday.
“Temperatures will get up into the mid-60s, so a really nice day,” he said. “And basically dry,” with ”perhaps a few showers in the North Cascades and along the coast.”
Nice Day Sunday, Rain Later
There will be an approaching front that will come in Sunday night, Mass says.
“But Sunday is going to be dry over virtually the whole region, with increasing clouds during the afternoon – highs getting up into the mid-60s – so a very nice day,” he said.
Monday, a front will come through. “And this is the strongest front we’ve had in a while, so Sunday night into Monday morning, it will rain. It’ll rain quite a bit,” Mass said.
Ridge Returning, Bringing Blue Skies Back On Tuesday
He says the front will move through on Monday, which he says will become “probably partly cloudy by the end of the day.”
“And I can’t believe it – but another high-pressure ridge is going to build up on Tuesday and Wednesday,” Mass said. “So it should dry out again and get sunny and warm.”
A Weakening El Niño And The Good Water Outlook This Summer
To hear a discussion of the longer term outlook, based on the current weakening of this year’s very strong El Niño weather pattern, both for this summer and next winter, you can click on the “play” icon at the top of this post.
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.
