Updated Wednesday 4:00 p.m.
Depending on when you're reading this, summer is just over, or under, 24 hours away but as we've been advertising all week, I think summer is sleeping in. Or stuck in traffic. Or stuck in Alaska.
Scattered showers this evening will increase a bit overnight, then turn into a deluge for some people Thursday as a pesky area of low pressure takes on heck of a parting shot as it moves off into the inter-mountain West.
However, the storm isn't going to whack the entire region as forecast models had been indicating for the past few days, instead focusing its wrath on the North Sound. Rain totals are now expected to wildly vary from north to south, where spots near Bellingham could see up to 1-2 inches of rain while the South Sound around Olympia and Tacoma might be left with perhaps 2 hundredths of an inch of rain (0.02").
Seattle proper could get about a quarter inch or so while Everett could push closer to a half inch. Not record-breaking anymore, but certainly not June-worthy. Also not June-worthy? Highs in the upper 50s to low 60s.
The rain will weaken and move south as we head into Friday, to where we reverse fortunes and the South Sound will be wetter than the North Sound, only not quite as wet (maybe a tenth of an inch or so around Olympia/Tacoma) and nearly dry up north. By afternoon, we all dry out with sunbreaks starting to peek out as temperatures climb to the mid 60s.
Saturday is still shaping up to be the first inkling that summer has arrived with partly to mostly sunny skies and highs into the low-mid 70s. Sunday is a bit more of a wild card as the models still disagree with where an incoming system is making landfall and when it'll arrive. It's ranged from a rainy, cool Sunday to a drier and warm Sunday - the drier ones more recent.
We're going to lean with the idea of a dry start to the day but an increasing chance of showers in the afternoon. There is still hope if current model trends hold that Sunday will end up dry too, but we're not ready to commit to it yet. Highs will be around 70.
Beyond Sunday, it's another rainy start to next week as a series of systems blow through, keeping rain at times in the forecast through at least mid week. But contrary to what that sounds like, autumn is still 85 days away :)
Scott Sistek
KOMONews.com Meteorologist
Follow me on Twitter @ScottSKOMO and on Facebook.
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