12-21 Weather Discussion

Updated Tuesday 5:03 p.m.

A quick look back at autumn will bring a nice reminder of the whacky weather we have had around Western Washington. We have seen some record rainfall (more than 1 occasion), many warmer than normal days (18 just in December), a wind storm or two, and don’t forget a snowstorm before Thanksgiving that created havoc all over Seattle.

So how will this wacky weather end? Quite peacefully, actually, as we have some partly cloudy skies out tonight and very little moisture around. We will see the clouds increase overnight which will prevent the temperatures from getting near freezing but we’ll still get down into the higher 30s for most areas. We may see a few spotty showers here or there.

A system moving North off the Oregon coast will send a few showers or some light rain towards us Wednesday morning. The system stalls a little off the coast, preventing it from moving inland and this will make it difficult for the coast to get out of the rain but for most areas around Western Washington, Wednesday afternoon should be fairly dry. Highs will be top out around the mid 40s.

The mountains will see a few snow showers Wednesday morning but only accumulating to 2-5”. By the end of the week they will begin to see some more snow and even MORE it appears for next week, but that’s still a little early to tell. Snow level tomorrow will be around 2000ft.

Eastern Washington will have mostly cloudy skies Wednesday morning turning to snow showers by the afternoon, mainly west of Moses Lake. High temps in the low 30s.

That system that stalled off the coast will make its way inland by Thursday, bringing some more steady rain for our area. Foothill locations will probably see some gusty winds as well, but not as bad as we had a few days ago. Winds will likely be around 20-30mph with gusts near 40.

The front will pass through Thursday and showers will linger through Friday as another cold front approaches our area for Saturday. Highs will climb a little into the upper 40s ahead of the front. Last minute holiday shoppers will not be battling any torrential downpours Christmas Eve.

For Christmas day, we will have a good ole fashioned Northwest Christmas. Around here it is commonly known as a “Green” Christmas, meaning cloudy and wet and sure enough, that’s what’s in store. We have another cold front that will push through bringing steady rains for most of Western Washington. Temperatures will be mild, in the mid to upper 40s.

Longer range models keep us in the rainy trend with mostly cloudy and showers Sunday, rain and gusty winds Monday, and some scattered showers Tuesday. It’s looking like most of next week shall be wet and cooler, possibly bringing some heavy snow to the mountains.

But for us, this isn’t very whacky weather; it’s typical for a northwest winter.

Aaron Hill

KOMO4 Weather Intern