Get out your shades and sunscreen: this weekend promises to be mild and very sunny, says KPLU weather expert Cliff Mass.
“It’s gonna be quite good,” said Mass, professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington.
Friday will include some clouds with a weak disturbance moving in, says Mass.
“There could even be a few sprinkles on the north part of the Cascades, maybe even on the Olympic Peninsula, but nothing serious,” he said.
Things will generally remain dry, and temperatures will reach the lower 60s in many places.
Saturday will be “the transition day to perfection," said Mass. Morning clouds will burn off later in the day as high pressure starts building in, while a fairly strong north wind will keep temps cooler despite warming sun. We'll see temperatures in the lower 60s, says Mass.
But on Sunday, a strong ridge of high pressure in the eastern Pacific will build and cause descending air that will evaporate the clouds. And temperatures should get up into the mid-60s over much of western Washington, making for "a really nice day,” said Mass.
“But it gets better than that,” Mass said. “The ridge amplifies,” bringing in warmer temperatures.
“It looks like we’ll have upper 60s – even lower 70s here in western lowlands on Monday and Tuesday.” Mass said. “An extraordinarily nice period."
Then some weak disturbances start coming in, making rain likely again on Wednesday and Thursday.
So “we’ll have a run of very nice weather,” Mass said. “And it breaks this curse of the weekends we’ve been having, with really great weather on Monday and Tuesday and not-so-great [weather] over the weekend.”
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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.
