


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Seattle/Tacoma, WA
Issued by NWS Seattle/Tacoma, WA
194 FXUS66 KSEW 041607 AFDSEW Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Seattle WA 907 AM PDT Sat Oct 4 2025 .SYNOPSIS...An exiting shortwave disturbance will allow for a chance for scattered showers into this evening before dry conditions return to western Washington. Upper level ridging will strengthen over the Pacific and slowly move eastward Sunday and into the first half of next week, warming temperatures over the area to above seasonal normals. More active weather is possible for the second half of next week. && .SHORT TERM /TODAY THROUGH MONDAY/...A weak shortwave will traverse W WA today, bringing enough moisture to allow for a chance for scattered showers. The terrain of the Cascades will be favored somewhat, but drying conditions will start as early as late this afternoon for the western half of the CWA with the eastern half getting in on the action by this evening. Current radar supports this thinking with little to no activity appearing at the time of this writing while NBM solutions from 24 hours ago had Likely PoPs /greater than 60 pct/ over much of W WA. Latest solutions, thankfully, have backed off from this...and while PoPs may still be inflated, they largely remain in the Slight Chance to Chance category /generally less than 50 pct/...fitting the current circumstances well enough. As alluded to above, some spots in the Cascades may see PoPs around 60 pct...getting into low-end Likely...but again, this seems fine as some terrain support could justify that. A building upper level ridge over the Pacific will be fully in control of W WA weather by Sunday, as dry conditions resume and warming trend starts. Highs Sunday will get in the mid 60s for most of the interior lowlands, climbing into the upper 60s to around 70 for Monday. 18 .LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/...Models remain consistent with regards to the start of the long term. The ridge continues to shift eastward putting the ridge axis at least in E WA/ID panhandle. The warming trend will culminate in the warmest temperatures of the forecast period with interior lowlands getting into the lower to mid 70s. Unfortunately, Wednesday and beyond continue to remain excruciatingly unclear as both deterministic and ensemble forecast seemingly refuse to come to a consensus. There is agreement that a troughy pattern sets up over the area and the only agreed upon impact would be cooling temperatures down closer to seasonal normals, returning daytime highs back to the 60s and allowing overnight lows to dip down into the 40s. However, the track of the upper level low associated with said trough will determine chances for precip and amounts...and sadly solutions to this dilemma remain unchanged from 24 hours ago: GFS sticking to its guns and kicking the low out over the Pacific, keeping W WA dry-ish...ECMWF bringing the low right into WA with typical autumn rains and ensembles offering a lot of solutions in between. Like 24 hours ago, ensembles do lean more toward ECMWF plan of a wetter solutions...but not too wet as ensemble mean precip values have difficulty getting above one- tenth of an inch. NBM does the best it can with this, offering slight chance to chance PoPs for the area...as good a solution as any at this time. 18 && .AVIATION...Northerly flow aloft will continue through the TAF period. Radar shows a few light showers across portions of the northern and central Sound this this morning as a weak frontal system pushes through the region. Conditions across area terminals are a mixed bag this morning with satellite showing stratus persisting across western WA. Overall improvement for terminals with lower cigs will be slow, with improvement towards VFR expected after 19z-22z. Guidance suggests HQM may see some brief improvement to VFR between 21z-22z, but may remain MVFR into the late evening hours. Guidance hints at another round of low ceilings Sunday morning after 09z for the Kitsap Peninsula and southern interior. Light to calm winds early this morning will transition N/NW in the afternoon for most terminals, generally persisting between 5-10 kt. KSEA...VFR this morning with a broken deck around 3000 ft. Guidance hints ceilings may lower to MVFR after 12z Sunday (35% chance). Light to calm NE winds will shift to the NW this afternoon at 5-10 kt, then becoming NE into tonight into early Sunday morning. 29/14 && .MARINE...A weak front will continue to push through area waters Saturday morning. Broad surface high pressure will build over the waters Saturday night into Monday. A weakening frontal system may move over the coastal waters on Tuesday, bringing the chance for increased northwesterly winds that have a 30-50% chance of exceeding 21 kt. Seas will remain around 4-6 ft through the weekend and will build to 6-9 ft on Tuesday. 29 && .SEW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WA...None. PZ...None. && $$