Four consecutive days of damp wx will return.  When?  That’s why you brought a Mug ☕️ and are ready to read on.  

The overall pattern for the rest of May is coming into ‘view’ on the charts.  To keep it simple this morning, we’ll outline the next 14-16 days below.  (For Patrons new to our forecasts, we informally consider mild temps to range from 60 - 74 degrees, warm temps 75 - 85, hot above 85.)

• Today - Fri, May 13-17:  Dry & mild to warm, cooling by Thu with onshore wind increasing.  Partly cloudy around the Puget Sound late week. 
• Coming weekend, May 18,19: Dry & mild.  Increasing cloudiness Sunday night, from the northwest.
• Week of May 20-24: Cloudy & wet through Thu.  Drying on Fri to start the long holiday weekend.
• Memorial Day Weekend, May 25-27: Mild-to-warm Sat & Sunday; increasing clouds Sunday afternoon; wet overnight into Monday.  Most of the precip will be over the Puget Sound.  Cooler on Memorial Day.
• Tue - Fri May 28-31: Wet from roughly Chehalis north on Tue, dry elsewhere.  Potential for hot temps late that week to end the month.

May 10 2024

         (Today's forecast discussion is presented below this statement)

NOAA has issued a “Severe G4 Magnetic Solar Storm Watch" for today into the weekend of May 11,12.  This is a rare “Watch”.  It is the first such alert issued by NOAA since 2005 - before we had ‘smart phones’!  

G4’s are the second-strongest forms of geomagnetic storms - these type of solar storms can cause disruptions in communications of all types - satellite, radio, cell towers, electric power grids, GPS navigation, as examples.  “If geomagnetic storms were hurricanes, ‘severe’ would be Category 4,” says SpaceWeather.com.

Plenty of ☀️ sunshine ahead.  Refill and read on.

The PNW has finally turned the corner into an extended dry pattern.  For many locations, today and Saturday will be the warmest of the year, thus far.  Sunday will be pleasant as marine air moves onshore, tapping down temps from Sat.  West winds will increase in the Columbia River Gorge.  Some cloudiness possible over the northern Puget Sound area on Sunday.

Next week will be DRY and turning warmer again mid-week.  Good chance that temps by Thu and Fri will exceed those of the next 2 days.  It does look dry into the weekend of May 18,19, with sunshine and warm temps prevailing.  Note: temperatures May 16-18 could top the 90s in western locations.  

You guessed it ---> dry days continue through the week of May 20 - 24, setting up a potentially dry Memorial Day weekend. We’ll see.

Bottom line:  Crop irrigation systems will need to be primed for the 2024 watering season.  Good chance that we’ll not have RAIN for the next 17 days.  

Only two damp, chilly days to go until --> ☀️  Lots of Sunshine  ☀️

A long-waited WARM-UP arrives soon.  But first, cold air moving in today - Monday - presenting showers & thunderstorms across much of the region.  On & off peaks of sun between the showers, but the air will remain quite chilly for May.  That all changes abruptly on Wed May 8.  High pressure ridge begins to build up over the PNW, ushering in the WARMEST stretch of weather thus far in 2024!  

Indeed, sunshine returns, with warming each day later this week.  Current projections are for temps on Fri & Sat popping up into the 80s.  (Some model runs even hint at a chance for a 90+ here & there about the PNW.)  The coming weekend looks absolutely awesome.  Dry & warm.  Temps may tap down a few degrees come Sunday, as onshore flow increases.  Lots of pink faces possible at work or school come next Monday the 13th, but oh the joy of outdoor warmth & sunshine.  

Right now, we see the dry period continuing through the week of May 13 - 17.  The onshore component will hold temps in the pleasant zone (not too hot, not too cold) all that week.  There should be a notable west wind up the Columbia River Gorge - go windsurfers! 

With some variation, models do project a return to showery, cool conditions around Sunday or Monday, May 19,20.  However, that downturn may be short-lived, as high pressure is on the charts to rebuild an onshore push by Wed the 22nd, for a return to pleasant conditions.  

A quote used in 2009:  “Men fight for freedom and then start making laws to get rid of it."

That’s right, there is hope for the return of Spring.  Five more days before the ’turn’.  Dare we Mug up for that?  

Rather than tracking well to the west of the PNW coast - as expected several days ago - the Low pressure center of our weekend storm will make ‘landfall’ over southern OR/northern CA overnight Saturday.  The result: plenty of STEADY RAIN across much of OR, with WA state getting less of the precip.  Looks like over an inch of rain is possible for western OR, esp south of Portland starting later this afternoon and lasting through Saturday morning.  Showers will follow late Sat into Sunday, as will a drop in afternoon temperatures.  This system is NOT a big wind producer.  East side locations, and ID, will be wet, as well.  Good moisture for dry-land farming.

Cool, damp conditions will continue to move onshore from the NW into the early part of next week, then, models chart the much-awaited return to DRY & WARM wx for several days.  🌸🌼Wed May 8 will be the turning point, so expect plenty of sunshine and gradually warmer afternoons as next week comes to an end. 

☀️Weekend of May 11,12 is looking delightful!  Sunny.  Warming into the 70s for most locations.  

Dry wx will continue into the week of May 13 - 17, with a couple days of possible showers & thunderstorms over the eastern OR & ID basins Mon & Tue.  Regionally, temps are likely to cool down a bit, into the 60s.  The northern half of Vancouver Island may get showers returning late week, as a weak Low moves onshore over coastal BC.  Increasing chance for some cloudiness for north Puget Sound.  

The dry pattern should hold on through the May 18,19 weekend, with temperatures warming a few degrees, compared to Thu & Fri.

Overall:  roughly 5 more days of wet weather around the PNW, then - hopefully - an extended dry, mild wx period arrives.  We’re Mug ready!