You've already seen the pattern—cloudy mornings, burning off later in the day, with highs in the lower 70s. That's the forecast for the week ahead, says Cliff Mass, professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington.
The cloudiest day of the week will be today, Friday, he says, as a "disturbance" moves through. After that, the pattern resumes of "weak troughs" over the western US, bringing low clouds in the mornings and keeping temperatures down.
This is so tedious for weather scientists that Mass is busy trying to predict next winter's weather. He says it looks like we'll be free of either El Nino or La Nina influences on the Pacific Ocean, which means ... average winter weather, with one caveat:
"These neutral years are the years when the most extreme weather, the very unusual extreme weather, the big floods, the windstorms, even the big snowstorms, tend to happen," says Mass (with a hint of excitement).
As for the rest of July, Mass says there are signs that the pattern could shift at the end of next week, and an atmospheric ridge could build, which is what brings hot weather to the Northwest.
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Do you have a weather question? Cliff Mass occasionally answers reader questions on the air. Share yours here (at the bottom of the page, where you can sort the questions by "newest to oldest").
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. 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.
