Monday, April 22, 2024

Warm Tuesday, Wetter & Cooler Pattern Ahead

FastCast--Tuesday, April 23 to Friday, April 26:

A warm day is ahead on Tuesday, with highs in the lowlands reaching the upper 60s to low 70s, under partly to mostly sunny skies. However, a major pattern change is ahead, with a shift to cooler and wetter conditions. Highs will drop to the upper 50s to low 60s by Wednesday, with overcast skies. Rain will move in on Thursday, continuing at times through Friday. Through late Friday, most of the lowlands will receive 0.4-0.8" of rain. High temperatures will also be on the cool side, only in the low to mid 50s. Expect lows in the low to mid 40s. (Check the bottom of the blog for a list of peak winds from the stronger-than-expected Saturday storm).

To see some video of the gusty winds and a timelapse of the Saturday storm, check out my YouTube channel by clicking the YouTube logo to the right!

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Continue reading the full blog below!

For the last time in awhile, the lowlands will have a warm and pleasant day, with highs likely reaching into the 70s. However, big changes are ahead, with a pattern change likely. Let's take a look at the forecast!

Let's start with the NWS NBM high-resolution forecast for high temperatures on Tuesday.


Tuesday will be warm and pleasant across Washington. Expect lowland highs to reach the upper 60s to low 70s, except in the mid 60s from Everett northward. The coast will reach the upper 50s to low 60s, the Willamette Valley will warm into the low to mid 70s, and Eastern Washington will reach the mid 60s to low 70s.

Temperatures will begin to cool down on Wednesday. Below is the NWS NBM forecast for highs on Wednesday.


Lowland highs will drop to the upper 50s to low 60s on Wednesday, with the coast dropping to the mid 50s and the Willamette Valley dropping to the mid 60s. Eastern Washington will warm into the mid 60s to mid 70s, getting warmer instead of cooling down as the high pressure ridge moves eastward.

Temperatures will cool further by Thursday, as seen in the NWS NBM forecast.


Highs across Western Washington and Oregon will drop to the low to mid 50s. Eastern Washington will drop to the low to mid 60s, except the upper 60s around the Tri-Cities. 

As the temperatures cool across the region, weather systems will begin to move in. A system will spread rain across Western Washington on Thursday, with showers continuing on Friday, and likely into the weekend. The European model forecast below shows total rain through Friday night.


This forecast shows the lowlands getting 0.5-0.8" of rain, except some areas north and east of the Olympics will get less rain in a rain shadow. Areas from Olympia south will receive 0.8-1.3", and the coast will get 1.3-1.6". Even Eastern Washington will get in on the rain, with 0.1-0.3" for most of the region. The mountains of NE Washington will get up to 1" of rain.

So...what's the cause of this pattern change? Take a look at the European model forecast below, showing the high and low pressure systems at around 18,000 feet late Thursday.


This shows a broad area of troughing over the Pacific Northwest by Thursday. Troughing will likely continue across the Northwest through the end of April...so stay tuned!

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Saturday Peak Winds:

NAS Whidbey: 49 mph

Shelton: 46 mph

Port of Tacoma: 44 mph

Bremerton: 43 mph

Camano Island: 42 mph

Lake Stevens: 40 mph

Tacoma Narrows: 39 mph

Boeing Field: 38 mph

Sea-Tac Airport: 37 mph

These winds caused over 22,000 PSE customers to lose power, with over 10,000 customers losing power in the Seattle City Light and Snohomish PUD service areas as well.



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