Central U.S. Waters Strait of Juan de Fuca Marine Forecast
| Today...W Wind 15 To 20 Kt, Easing To 5 To 10 Kt. Waves Around 3 Ft. A Chance Of Showers Early This Morning, Then Showers With A Slight Chance Of Tstms Late This Morning And Afternoon. |
| Tonight...Sw Wind 10 To 15 Kt. Waves Around 3 Ft. Showers, Mainly In The Evening. |
| Sat...W Wind 15 To 20 Kt, Rising To 20 To 25 Kt In The Afternoon. Waves 3 To 5 Ft. A Chance Of Showers. |
| Sat Night...W Wind 20 To 25 Kt, Easing To 15 To 20 Kt After Midnight. Waves 5 To 7 Ft. |
| Sun...W Wind 10 To 15 Kt. Waves 3 To 4 Ft. |
| Sun Night...W Wind 15 To 20 Kt. Waves 3 To 4 Ft. |
| Mon...W Wind 10 To 15 Kt, Rising To 15 To 20 Kt In The Afternoon. Waves 3 To 4 Ft. |
| Mon Night...W Wind 15 To 20 Kt. Waves 3 To 5 Ft. |
| Tue...W Wind 10 To 15 Kt. Waves 3 To 4 Ft. |
| Tue Night...W Wind 15 To 20 Kt, Easing To 10 To 15 Kt After Midnight. Waves 3 To 4 Ft. Winds And Waves Higher In And Near Tstms. |
| Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Seattle WA 259am PDT Fri May 15 2026 Synopsis A very cool upper level trough will move over Western Washington today and remain over the area through Saturday night. Upper level ridge building offshore Sunday with Western Washington on the backside of the ridge through the middle of next week. Short Term - Today through Sunday Satellite imagery shows mostly cloudy skies over Western Washington early this morning. Doppler radar has widely scattered showers mainly over the northern portion of the area. Temperatures at 2 am/09z were in the mid 40s to lower 50s. Main story for the next two days is the very cool upper level trough over Western Washington. The trough will move over the area today and remain into Saturday night. Temperatures aloft very cold for this time of year with 500 mb temperatures dropping below -30C tonight into Saturday. Even with plenty of cloud cover and little daytime heating the very cold air aloft will create unstable conditions especially this afternoon through Saturday. Lifted indexes in the plus 2 to minus 2 range, convective temperatures both this afternoon and Saturday afternoon below the predicted high temperatures, lapse rates with the very cold air aloft in the plus 7 to 8C/km. All this adds up to showers through Saturday with a chance of afternoon and evening thunderstorms. Snow levels, already low near 4000 feet this morning, lowering to 3000 to 3500 feet tonight and Saturday. Could see a couple of inches of snow at the summit of Stevens Pass while higher up Paradise on Mount Rainier looking at 4 to 8 inches of new snow the next two days. Highs in the lower to mid 50s today and mid to upper 50s Saturday. Highs today will only be a couple of degrees warmer than record low maximums. Lows tonight in the upper 30s to mid 40s. Upper level trough weakening Saturday night and moving out of the area Sunday. Convective activity coming to an end Saturday evening. A few breaks in the clouds cover will allow temperatures to drop into the mid 30s in the colder locations Sunday morning. Lows in the upper 30s to mid 40s for the remainder of the area. Upper level ridge building offshore Sunday. Plenty of low level moisture over Western Washington combined with light flow in the lower levels will make it hard for the sun to break through especially in the morning. As the marine layer thins in the afternoon some sunshine will get highs into the upper 50s to Long Term - Sunday Night Through Thursday Models in good agreement with the upper level ridge remaining in place at least through Tuesday. Differences in the model solutions beginning Wednesday with some solutions moving the ridge inland over Western Washington while other solutions keep the ridge axis offshore. Either scenario keeps the weather dry over the area. The ridge axis moving overhead would result in a little warmer days. For now with the uncertainty will keep highs just a couple of degrees above normal Wednesday and Thursday, in the mid 60s to lower 70s. Highs Monday and Tuesday in the 60s. Lows in the 40s through the period. Marine Onshore flow will continue over the weekend which will allow for daily pushes through the Strait of Juan De Fuca. However, given the more southwesterly flow of winds...they may not see such a strong push today...that remains on track for Saturday though. These southwesterly winds however do look to trigger advisory level winds for the Puget Sound for much of the day today before easing by this evening. As such, an SCA (Small Craft Advisory) has gone out with the morning forecast package. Near-shore seas will steadily increase today, likely topping out at 7 to 9 ft. The outer waters however will see more significant increases, reaching 9 to 12 ft late tonight and persisting throughout much of Saturday. As such, have issued an SCA (Small Craft Advisory) this morning to cover this high seas threat. Seas might be slow to regress, but they are expected to slowly ease back down to 7 to 9 ft Sunday morning. 18 Hydrology The daily hydrology discussion has ended until the start of the next rainy season; it will only be updated during this time as needed. NOAA Seattle WA Office: Watches - Warnings - Advisories WA...None. PZ...None. |
Seattle/Tacoma WA Radar
Northwest Radar