Happy Friday! First thing you should do today...? Prepare for rain! Thankfully, we’ll start the day dry and won’t see the more consistent rain until later today and tonight. Still, if you are Trick or Treating, be ready for rain.
By mid to late morning, breezes at the coast and northern waters start to rise as rain begins across the north coast and far western part of the Strait. This line of heavier rainfall will be slow to move southeast but will through the afternoon and by 3-4 pm, it will be raining (heavily in spots) across the northern waters and northwest interior — north/west of Everett — and the Strait and the coast.
A Wind Advisory is in effect for the north coast and northwest interior for Friday and Friday evening as wind gusts on the water could hit 40-45 mph.
Rain will begin around the Everett-Seattle-Tacoma areas from 4-6 p.m., right as trick-or-treaters are heading out. Expect a soaker of a Halloween evening with standing water and blustery conditions with some wind gusts over 20mph around the metro areas and a little stronger across the north.
Rain will do nothing but increase through the later evening hours with the possibility of some urban flooding from leaf-clogged storm drains. A quarter to half-inch of rain fall is expected around the Sound through the evening hours with more falling across the north and the coast.
There could be a bit of a break for a short time into the overnight Saturday before a second weather system moves in with more heavy rain ahead of daybreak Saturday. This will plague the area for most of Saturday morning before moving into the Cascades by afternoon.
A period of stronger winds with gusts in the 35-45mph range is possible on Saturday morning until very early Saturday afternoon with a compact area of low pressure moving onshore. This does not look as strong as the winds we saw last Saturday, though there could be some minor impacts. We are also in a better position for wind gusts like this (were they to occur) because the strong winds last weekend removed some leaves and also weaker branches and trees.
Following the end of the heavier rain early Saturday afternoon, a Puget Sound convergence zone will set up for some lingering showers in the central and north Sound. Also snow levels which have been above 7,000 feet with the atmospheric river will fall to 3,500 to 4,000 feet late Saturday into Sunday so there could be a few inches of high pass snow.
The rainfall totals for the Friday-Saturday timeframe will be in the 0.75″ to 1.25″ range around most of the lowlands except a little heavier at the coast and north. Rainfall amounts of 2-4 inches with higher amounts in spots will hit the mountains. This will spike rivers higher by late in the weekend. Right now, the Skokomish River in Mason County could hit minor flood stage for the first time this season during and after the atmospheric river event, though this sort of flooding is very common and that river is the most flood-prone in our area. Little impact to property or travel will occur, though salmon might be seen crossing the roadway near Potlatch in minor flooding — another sign of fall in the Northwest.
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