weatherblog

Haze moves out, light rain moves in Friday

The expected smoke from northern California moved in several miles up in our skies but is not affecting surface air quality at all. As a front approaches the area this evening, this haze aloft will move east and air quality in eastern Washington too should improve. Some thunderstorms will impact the south Cascades and points east in the next few hours.

This evening, it will remain dry most areas. A few spotty showers at the coast could occur toward midnight and there could be a few showers north of Seattle with a weak convergence zone very late this evening. I still think we’ll get to midnight without rain at Sea-Tac, which would make 52 straight days without measurable rain. This would be the second-longest streak of dry weather on record for Seattle. August 2017 set the record at 55 days.

The much-advertised rain chance arrives Friday but don’t expect a soaker. In fact, weather trends have been toward far less rain overall for Western and Eastern Washington and it’s pretty likely there will be areas that do not see measurable rain through Sunday. Still, we’ll remain hopeful for a few hundredths of an inch to a tenth or perhaps a little more for lowland areas west of the Cascades and spotty amounts east. The best shot at rain that will be more than a quarter inch will be in and near the west slopes of the Cascades.

With more clouds and this rain, temperatures will top out only in the low 70s for Seattle.

On Saturday, we’ll have a few spotty showers around and highs still cooler than seasonal averages, but we also will watch for the chance of a Puget Sound Convergence Zone between Seattle and Everett that could focus some heavier rain. Rain chances generally end by Sunday afternoon across the region but it’ll stay cool to end the weekend.

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We’re back to warm and dry with hazy skies likely returning to Western Washington next week with the possibility of haze or smoke becoming a concern by Tuesday or so across the area through the end of the week. Highs next week are expected to warm back into the 80s for the Seattle area with the potential for some 90s again by Thursday.

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