Widespread Rain & A Look at the Extended Forecast

FastCast—Sunday, Mar. 12 to Thursday, Mar. 16:

Don’t forget that Daylight Saving Time begins at 2 AM Sunday, so set your clocks forward one hour! 

A rainy system is ahead from Sunday afternoon to midday Monday. This will be the rainiest system in the past month or so, with 0.6-1.25” expected for the lowlands and 2-3” on the coast. In the mountains, expect 6-10” of snow at Snoqualmie Pass and 10-14” at Stevens Pass. Conditions will dry out by Tuesday, with some scattered showers through early Wednesday morning. Through Wednesday, expect highs in the mid 40s to low 50s, with lows in the mid 30s to low 40s. Some warmth is likely later in the week, with highs likely reaching the upper 50s by Thursday! However, lows are still on the chilly side, potentially dropping below freezing Thursday morning.

——————————————————

Continue reading the full blog below!

A wet system is ahead for the Pacific Northwest, with steady rain from Sunday afternoon through midday Monday. Let’s take a look at the rain forecasts.

First, the European model forecast through Monday evening.

Expect 0.5-1.1” of rain in the lowlands, with a rain shadow to the north of the Olympic Peninsula and from Bremerton to South Whidbey. The coast gets 0.8-1.25” in this forecast, with 1-1.75” in the Willamette Valley. Eastern Washington will receive 0.1-0.6”, most from the Tri-Cities to Spokane.

Next, we will take a look at the high-resolution UW WRF forecast for total rain from this storm.

The UW forecast shows 0.5-0.75” from Seattle south and 0.25-0.5” from Seattle north. On the coast and in the foothills, expect 0.75-1.25”. 

What about mountain snow? Let’s take a look at the European model forecast through Monday evening.

At the passes, expect 6-10” at Snoqualmie and 10-14” at Stevens. Travel impacts are possible, especially late Sunday to early Monday.

Conditions turn drier with scattered showers on Tuesday and Wednesday. Some actual warmth is possible on Thursday, as seen in the European model’s forecast below.

The European model is showing high temperatures reaching the upper 50s for most of the lowlands! Stay tuned for more information on our potential brief warm spell at the end of this week!

Unfortunately, consistent warmth doesn’t seem too likely. Let’s take a look at the NWS Climate Prediction Center (CPC) temperature and precipitation outlooks below.

First, the CPC temperature outlook for March 19-25.

This outlook shows a 40-60% probability of below average temperatures for Washington through late March.

Next, the CPC precipitation outlook, also for March 19-25.

This outlook shows a 33-50% probability of above average precipitation through late March.

So, in general, with a few warmer days possible, generally below normal temperatures and higher than average precipitation are expected through most of March. Stay tuned!