WeatherFanatics: Cooler Air, Rain to Arrive This Week in Seattle, Portland

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Cooler Air, Rain to Arrive This Week in Seattle, Portland

By Jordan Root, Meteorologist

September 21,2014; 10:22PM,EDT

Cooler air will arrive across the Northwest this week, erasing the sizzling heat that settled in the region this past weekend.
In relation to weekend high temperatures, thermometers will drop 10 to 20 degrees this week.
Instead of the mercury rising into the 80s and 90s, folks in Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon will be met with low 70s.
By September standards, these temperatures are actually typical for the region. However, it certainly will feel quite cool after the recent warmth that targeted the area.
Portland reached 94 degrees on Saturday, just two degrees shy of the record.

A ridge of high pressure that brought the heat will be shifting to the east through the middle of the week. This will allow a dip in the jet stream to not only bring cooler air into the region, but unsettled weather in the form of clouds and rain.
Showers are expected to arrive by Tuesday afternoon to the Oregon and Washington Coasts and I-5 corridor.
Folks who need to attend to outdoor activities may want to plan for Monday as that will be the best chance for dry weather.

After that, umbrellas and rain jackets will become useful as people head out the door.
The steadiest rain will likely arrive Wednesday, followed by periods of rain and showers through the end of the week.
Thunderstorms could reach as far east as Spokane and as far south as northern California.
According to AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Evan Duffey, the rain is much needed across the region.
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"Although it won't be very heavy, the rain will help dampen the ground across northern California which would help firefighting efforts," said Duffey.
Currently, the Happy Camp and July Complex wildfires are raging across northern California.
"However, it likely won't do much to the extreme and exceptional drought that currently grips much of California," added Duffey.
Several other wildfires that are ongoing in the Sierra Nevada Mountains will not see any rainfall. Gusty winds could actually hinder firefighting efforts during the week.