weatherblog

Unsettled weather this weekend with rain and some sun

The warmth of Wednesday and Thursday is long gone as a decidedly-colder airmass has charged into the Northwest, bringing periods of rain and thunderstorms to the lowlands and some snow to the mountains. This weekend will be chilly and unsettled.

Tonight, expect the areas of rain with embedded small hail showers and occasional lightning to persist but be pretty isolated. Other locations will have some passing showers. It will also remain breezy into the evening, with some wind gusts over 30 mph. As we go past 9 p.m. or so this Friday night, the chance for lightning and small hail will diminish with the loss of daytime “heating” and the associated instability for storms. But some periods of rain will continue overnight and into Saturday morning, but also with plenty of drier times.

[DOWNLOAD: Free KIRO 7 News app for alerts as news breaks]

In the mountains, a Winter Weather Advisory is in effect starting at 5 p.m. and going through at least 10 a.m. Saturday as snow will fall at times, particularly heavy near Stevens and possibly Snoqualmie Pass overnight. By the time we get to midday Saturday, many Cascades locations will have had 3-4 inches of snow but some lucky locations might wind up with up to a foot. Pass travel could be difficult at times to start the weekend.

Through the day Saturday in the lowlands, we’ll get some passing showers and there is a slim chance for a thunderstorm too. But I’m hopeful for plenty of breaks with some sun too. It won’t be as windy as today but still blustery nearer downpours. Highs will only be in the upper 40s for Seattle while we’ll have some occasional snow showers in the mountains.

Some areas of mainly light precipitation will continue Saturday night and Sunday and with chilly temperatures Sunday morning in the 30s, snow levels will be down to 500 feet or below so we could have some wet snow mixing in. Accumulations are unlikely where some snow falls but for April, it would be an interesting sight! Highs on Sunday will be in the upper 40s again and we’ll probably have fewer showers by afternoon and a little more sunshine.

We slowly dry things out Sunday night and Monday. There will remain a slight chance of precipitation (rain/snow mix) early Monday morning, but we shouldn’t have any impact. Then Tuesday looks dry before some rain and mountain snow on Wednesday. Highs will still remain cooler than average next week – in the low 50s in Seattle.

[SIGN UP: KIRO 7 Daily Headlines Newsletter]