If you had the time to take a hike today, or hit the ski slopes, you'd find it's maybe 20 or 30 degrees warmer when you climb above 3,000 feet, says KPLU weather expert Cliff Mass.
That's because the atmospheric inversion is extreme today, trapping cold air in the cities of Puget Sound-opolis, while the warm air is trapped above.
Mass says it won't last. A bit of rain will break up our unusual dry spell, starting late on Saturday. Then, on Tuesday, the inversion ends, as a storm starts to mix the air.
"Since October first, we've been three inches below normal at Seatac," of precipitation, he says.
But Mass sees another inversion potentially forming soon after.
Do you have a weather question? Cliff Mass and Keith Seinfeld will pick a few reader questions to answer later this month. Share yours here.
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 Health and Science reporter Keith Seinfeld. Cliff Mass is a University of Washington Professor of Atmospheric Sciences and renowned Seattle weather prognosticator. You can also listen to a podcast of this and previous "Weather with Cliff Mass" shows.
