10 June 2007

Weather Report

My weather friend, Scott, has returned from vacation! This was a report he did a few days ago. I don't know how he comes up with this stuff:

Sunshine, Never a Slam Dunk

Aaaaiiiiirrrrr baaaallllll.....
Usually, it's not hard for Mother Nature to hit the Northwest with rain, but today, to keep with the basketball terminology, she bricked the free throw. As expected, rain wrapped around the backside of a low pressure area moving to the east, but the rain overshot the Puget Sound area, instead soaring west to Vancouver Island, then turning south -- sort of like tossing a basketball too far over the hoop, only there's no backboard to stop it. Instead, it's left a rather complex pattern with clouds blowing every which way.
But the gist of the forecast for around here is that it won't be as rainy this evening as first thought. However, there is a Convergence Zone forming, so rain will be developing between Seattle and Everett, but outside that area, just a few isolated showers amid mostly cloudy skies. Lows tonight will drop to the mid-upper 40s. For Thursday, we'll just see some lingering showers in that Convergence Zone area, then all areas drying out and even improving to partly to mostly sunny by afternoon. Highs will warm a touch to the mid 60s. Friday is still on track to be the most pleasant day of the period, with plenty of sunshine and comfortable temperatures in the upper 60s and low 70s.
But get out and enjoy it, because rain is putting the full-court press on for the weekend. A rather strong front -- especially by June standards -- will push in from the coast Saturday morning. This looks to make for a soggy and windy day. We usually seem to say "Rain, but not a washout" this time of year, but I'm afraid this does look like a washout. Windy too, with gusts to 30-40 mph along the coast and up north, and perhaps 20-35 mph in the Puget Sound area. For those of you going to UW graduation -- bring rain gear. (As wet as it'll be, I'm still glad they do it at Husky Stadium now. It was at Hec Ed when I graduated, and it was a bummer to only be able to have three guests.) Temperatures will stay in the low 60s though the day.

Showers and breezy for Sunday, with highs staying in the low 60s. (Why does this feel like I'm writing a November forecast? About the only difference is that low 60s is cool now, whereas in November, we're sweating and it's pineapple express.)
A broad area of low pressure remains in the area Monday, keeping scattered showers in the forecast, but a better chance of sunbreaks in between. Just a few isolated showers for Tuesday amid partly sunny skies, and then we dry out for Wednesday, although still looks cool and fairly cloudy, with temperatures through the period in the mid 60s. Long range forecasts are flip-flopping for the end of next week and the following weekend. Dry and sunny is leading cool and showery 2-1 so far in model runs this week.
But as we've found out many times before, sunshine is never a slam dunk around here :)

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