And on the 13th day, it rained some more.
Another front rolled through Western Washington early this morning, tossing a tenth of an inch into the gauge at Sea-Tac Airport—enough to extend our rainy stretch to 13 consecutive days. Not since Feb. 7 has Seattle notched a precipitation-free day—a first in a winter filled with an abundance of dry streaks.
In fact, although it’s not unusual for Seattle to experience a few consecutive weeks of soggy weather in the winter, our current wet streak is the longest for the city since December of 2012—before 2013 and its penchant for high pressure ridges arrived.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen very little in the way of high pressure, as storm after storm has pounded the Northwest, allowing us to make up some serious ground in our rainfall deficit. To wit, total precipitation since Oct. 1 (the start of Seattle’s typical rainy season) is now running at roughly two-thirds of normal—compared to less than 50 percent just four weeks ago.
We’ll back off on the steady rains through Saturday, with just a few sprinkles possible late tonight and early Friday. This, of course, puts our rainy streak in serious jeopardy—unless a rogue shower hits the airport tomorrow morning, it won’t make it to day 14.
Absent any moisture, we’ll alternate between sun and clouds through the first part of the weekend, with highs coming down from near 50 today to the lower 40s by Saturday. Temperatures will dip into the upper 30s overnight tonight, sinking further toward the freezing mark late Friday.
Saturday starts off dry and partly sunny, with clouds increasing from the west during the afternoon. Meanwhile, to our north, an area of low pressure is predicted to spin up near Vancouver Island, drawing in much colder air from Canada—while simultaneously picking up moisture from the Pacific. The end result? A chance of wet snow in Whatcom and Skagit counties by Saturday night—to the tune of a few inches.
The snow threat spills slightly further south on Sunday as the winds shift to the northeast, dragging arctic air to about Everett. With temperatures hovering in the low to mid 30s, a rain/snow mix is possible across Snohomish County Sunday morning. Further south in the Seattle metro, a cold rain is likely into the afternoon, with temperatures staying within a notch or two of 40 degrees.
It’s Sunday night when things could get more interesting. Some weather models suggest the cold air will make it as far south as King County, dropping the mercury to near freezing while light precipitation continues to fall. This could equate to an inch or two of sloppy wet snow around the Sound—especially north and east of Seattle. Other models aren’t nearly as bullish, however, confining most of the arctic air and moisture to spots north of Mt. Vernon.
In any case, we look to warm up and dry out on Monday, with temperatures rebounding into the 40s under partly sunny skies. Tuesday and Wednesday should also be dry, with readings creeping into the low 50s during the afternoons.
Snow or no snow, at least it won’t be wet for another two weeks on end.
