Drying out briefly, raindrops return Thursday
Mostly cloudy, showers possible Tuesday
We may see a few showers Tuesday as we count down the days to a sunny Memorial Day weekend.
SEATTLE - The weather system that's just off our shores is diving down into Oregon and will be taking our morning showers along with it. So, we'll dry out this afternoon -- and that should hold most of the day and evening tomorrow too.
Temperatures today a bit warmer than yesterday's high of 60 at SeaTac. Today we'll be mid to low 60s. Tomorrow we'll be closer to 70.
The second weather system this week moves through this late week, arriving late Wednesday and bringing a bit more much-needed light spring rain into Thursday and a bit breezy too.
A warmer and dryer weather pattern looks to build in during the day on Friday just in time for our upcoming holiday weekend. Temps Friday look to be close to 70. By the holiday, some of the forecast models are leaning towards Puget Sound lowlands being close to 80. Where the drying/warming ridge of high pressure sets up will tell us more how warm we'll get and how long this warm streak will last. Low 80s are not record breaking for this time of year, but it is 10-15 degrees above normal for the end of May for most of Western Washington.
We have a full lunar eclipse on Wednesday starting after 1:30 a.m. -- officially 1:47 but totality will only about 15 minutes around 4:15 -- and pretty close to sunrise — so not an epic celestial event from brightening skies that will be happening an hour before sunrise in our region.
A lunar eclipse is when the moon crosses into the Earth's shadow. So the moon does not disappear, it appears reddish in color. The problem with viewing this for most of the U.S., and somewhat for Washington State, is that this time of year is our brightest sky conditions and longest days.
The term "astronomical twilight" comes into play here since that's when astronomers consider the sky dark enough for the stars to fully emerge. With solstice 26 days away, the "astronomical night" begins around 11:30p and ends around 2:45 a.m. -- so quite short for truly dark skies.
Coastal folks could have better viewing conditions since the moon sets later there, but they also have a greater shot for cloud cover. May the good viewing be yours, good luck! -Tim Joyce
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