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Friday, December 31, 2010

12-31 Discussion

Sorry about the delay in the next post, got busy with having fun on Winter Break :)

Updated Friday 4:30 p.m.

Do you remember back to December 31st, 2009? Well let me refresh your memory. Our high for the day was 49 degrees (sounds like a heat wave right now), we received just over a quarter of an inch of rain, and we were entering into, what we didn’t know then, would be the warmest January ever in Seattle (average 47 degrees).

Well that is a stark contrast to today and 2011 will get off to a much different start than 2010.

Today was beautiful and crisp with high temperatures only reaching the mid 30s throughout most of western Washington. A ridge of high pressure over the northwest, contributing to cloudless sky and beautiful sunshine, will also be the culprit to plummeting temperatures overnight, very similar to last night. Around Seattle and locales near the Puget Sound, overnight lows will be in the low to mid 20s. In Olympia, Bellingham, the foothills, and any outlying areas, overnight lows will fall into the teens. Anyone going out to see some fireworks shows will want to bundle up but the clear skies will make for some fantastic viewing.

Saturday, and the New Year, will start off with some icy roads as fog may develop around the sound, so watch out for black ice on the roadways. Tomorrow will warm up just a tad, maybe close to the 40 degree mark, but still remarkably cooler than normal for this time of year. Clear skies once again will make for a beautiful day, so go outside and take some pictures and enjoy the nice crisp New Year.

The passes will remain clear too but quite chilly. Afternoon pass temps will be in the low to mid 20s.

Eastern Washington definitely wins the cold temperature category Saturday with afternoon highs right around the 20 degree mark, maybe a little warmer towards Walla Walla and the Tri-Cities, into the mid 20s.

Sunday looks almost identical to Saturday, with highs inching a little higher, right around 40 degrees, and clear skies all around.

Monday and Tuesday will mark a little transition to warmer temperatures with daytime highs into the low to mid 40s and overnight lows near 32 degrees.

A change over to wetter weather could come by Wednesday but forecast models have been wavering a little on the timing. Overall, expect a wetter pattern setting up by mid next week.

Stay warm and Happy New Years!

Aaron Hill
KOMO Weather Intern


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