Meteorological spring began on the first, but Mother Nature is using it to give the West Side their first taste of early-summer. At 4pm at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the temperature was 73 breaking the old record of 68 which was set in 1998. Seattle isn’t the only one breaking records, though.
The last time Seattle was this warm was on September 28 of last year. This weather is more typical of late-June, when the average high is in the low-70s.
While warm temperatures are being experienced across the entire region, record highs are restricted to western Washington and western Oregon. Take a gander at the locations that have approached or exceeded records this afternoon.
Seventies are being felt on both sides of the Cascades, but are most widespread on the west side of the mountains. Sixties are spread even wider, encompassing most of the lowlands.
These warm temperatures are coming ahead of a cold front that is currently located offshore. While this front will be bringing colder weather and rain tomorrow, it is currently generating winds from the southeast to bring in warmer temperatures.
The warm weather system is also responsible for the clear skies in place in the Pacific Northwest. This MODIS image tweeted by the NWS Seattle this morning shows cloud cover being restricted to southeast Oregon.
A day this clear wouldn't be complete without a view from space. So, here's the view of the Pacific NW earlier today from NASA's MODIS satellite. #wawx pic.twitter.com/I82hI0Jt5P
— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) March 12, 2018
Big changes will be coming tomorrow with the cold front. Highs will be reduced to the 50s for the remainder of the week and rain is expected to begin tomorrow in Seattle, with up to a quarter of an inch falling. That said, higher precipitation amounts are expected to the south in the Sierra Nevada.
Rain chances continue for the Puget Sound Region through Wednesday and then pick up again this weekend, so enjoy the crazy warm weather while it lasts!
2 Comments
Thanks Mark. We are still having the pattern of warm west, cold east. Very persistent pattern this winter, that is with that pattern and also cold west, warm east which we certainly have had at times this winter. Great report!
Thanks Kevin! I’ve noticed that a lot of times when one side of the country is experiencing one extreme the other side is on the other side of the spectrum. You guys can keep the cold, because I’m ready for Spring and Summer!