Today’s weather story isn’t that we’re getting rain — it’s that the weather system bringing our chances for rain is likely falling apart before it gets here.
A weak cold front is moving into Western Washington this morning, bringing light rain to the Coast and Olympic Peninsula. As it pushes inland late-morning and into the afternoon, though, it’ll begin to lose its punch. By the time it reaches the I-5 corridor, the front will be much weaker and barely holding together.
That means don’t expect much if you live around Puget Sound. There could be a few spotty showers this afternoon, but many neighborhoods will stay dry. Where it does rain, we’re generally talking about a trace to just a few hundredths of an inch. The coast will pick up the most rain, with totals of a tenth to two tenths of an inch.
The bigger impact for most of us will be the increasing clouds. After a clear start to the day, skies will turn mostly cloudy, helping keep afternoon temperatures a few degrees below average with highs in the low to mid-70s.
This system moves out quickly, and summer weather returns for the rest of the work week. Sunshine will increase Wednesday, with morning clouds giving way to afternoon sun and temperatures warming into the upper-70s. By Thursday and Friday, highs will climb into the upper-70s and low to mid-80s under mostly sunny skies.
These weak weather systems will also help keep wildfire smoke east of the Cascades through the weekend. While an Air Quality Alert remains in effect through Wednesday for parts of central and north-central Washington, Western Washington should continue to enjoy good air quality.
Another weak system arrives this weekend with another chance for a few showers and slightly cooler temperatures. After that, temperatures may begin warming again early next week. Some Canadian wildfire smoke could drift overhead, but at this point it appears most of it would stay aloft. Since we don’t see a strong offshore wind pattern developing, significant smoke impacts west of the Cascades still look unlikely as we head into the start of August.
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