Significant Warmup Ahead

On Wednesday, October 4th, at 11:20 AM PDT, all cell phones will sound an alert tone and receive a text message due to a national Emergency Alert System (EAS) test being conducted by FEMA.

FastCast--Wednesday, Oct. 4 to Sunday, Oct. 8:

A major weather change is ahead for the Pacific Northwest, with much warmer temperatures arriving over the next few days. Temperatures will peak from Friday to Sunday across the region. On Wednesday, expect clouds giving way to sun, with highs in the mid 60s. Thursday will also have morning clouds transitioning to afternoon sun, with highs increasing to the mid to upper 60s across the lowlands. Friday looks even nicer, with mostly sunny skies (some brief morning clouds) and highs reaching the low to mid 70s. Saturday will be the best day (and likely the last warm & sunny day of 2023), with lowland highs in the mid to upper 70s under sunny skies. Clouds will increase and temperatures will drop to the upper 60s to low 70s on Sunday as active weather looks likely to return next week. Through Sunday, expect overnight lows in the upper 40s to low 50s. 

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Continue reading the full blog below!

The Pacific Northwest will warm up to late summer-esque temperatures over the next few days, with the nicest conditions on Friday and Saturday for Western Washington, and Friday to Sunday in Eastern Washington. Let's take a look at the forecast!

We'll start with the European model forecast for highs on Wednesday, seen below.

Wednesday will be a bit warmer than Tuesday, with lowland highs in the upper 50s to low 60s north of Seattle, and in the mid 60s south of Seattle. The coast will reach the upper 50s to mid 60s, and the Willamette Valley will reach the mid 60s to low 70s. Eastern Washington will reach the mid 60s to mid 70s.

Thursday will bring slightly increasing temperatures across the region, as seen in the European model forecast below.

On Thursday, expect lowland highs in the mid 60s, coastal highs in the mid to upper 60s (except the upper 50s to low 60s at the beaches), and the Willamette Valley and Eastern Washington's highs reaching the upper 60s to upper 70s.

Friday will be even warmer across the entire region.

On Friday, expect lowland highs in the low to mid 70s, with the coast reaching the upper 60s to mid 70s (hottest inland), and the Willamette Valley taking the cake in the upper 70s to low 80s! Eastern Washington will remain in the upper 60s to upper 70s.

Saturday will likely be the warmest day for Western Washington and the Portland area, as seen in the European model forecast below.

On Saturday, expect lowland highs in the mid to upper 70s (approaching daily records), with coastal highs in the mid 70s (except mid to upper 60s at the beaches), and Willamette Valley highs again in the upper 70s to low 80s. Eastern Washington will warm up to the mid 70s to low 80s. 

As you would expect, these temperatures are significantly above average for this time of year. Below is the European model forecast showing temperature departure from average on Saturday afternoon.

Wow! Western Washington & Oregon are running 15-20° above average! Eastern Washington and parts of Eastern Oregon are going to be 10-15° above average. These numbers are relatively rare for October, yet significantly less than October 2022's near all-time record heat (Seattle reached 88° on 10/16/22).

What is causing all this warmth? The answer is a large ridge of high pressure, situated directly over Washington, BC, and Alberta. This ridge is deflecting weather systems away from the Northwest and allowing us to warm up. You can see the ridge below in the European model upper-air forecast for Friday.

This ridge is in a prime position to bring much warmer than normal temperatures to the Northwest. If this were summer, we'd likely have a major heat wave on our hands.

However, this unseasonably warm (but not especially rare) pattern won't last long. Below is the NWS Climate Prediction Center (CPC) precipitation outlook for October 9-13.

This outlook shows a 60-70% probability of above average precipitation for the Northwest next week.

In short, enjoy the warmth while it's here, as storms aren't that far behind.