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Rain tapers off Friday afternoon
Rain at times on Saturday and Sunday, but big changes on the way next week.
Seattle - As promised, skies are clearing around Western Washington. We'll see all the showers fizzle out getting into the afternoon and snow will taper off in the mountains too. Today highs in the low 50s, which is a bit above normal early February. Unfortunately, we're not done with the rain this weekend. Nothing stormy, just seasonally soggy.
High pressured anchored just far enough offshore to keep northwesterly flow onto the West Coast. It's a classic La Nina weather pattern and it means weather systems can ride up and over the ridge and impact Pacific NW with relatively weak weather systems the keep is soggy at times as batches of rain move across the region.
Saturday looks a bit wet and breezy too some spots around Puget Sound could see gusts between 30-40mph. This will also mean passes and resorts get more snow too. Sunday we start to dry out as the cold air invasion begins. The really cold air will dive into the middle of the country, but we'll be on the edge of the very cold arctic airmass-- and our temps will drop significantly.
Luckily colder is is drier air, so after frozen / frosty mornings we'll see great February sunshine. Our coldest mornings will be towards the end of this coming week with lows in the 20s and highs that will struggle in the lowlands to get into the 40s.
This will be a long duration cold weather outbreak, but how we build back to a warmer and wetter pattern will be something we'll be monitoring very closely in the weather center. That's because it's at the end of these cold snaps that historically can mean wintry weather for the lowlands. Stay tuned. -Tim Joyce