Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Seattle/Tacoma, WA

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102 FXUS66 KSEW 141615 AFDSEW Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Seattle WA 915 AM PDT Fri Jun 14 2024 .UPDATE...
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Cold front currently making its way onshore this morning. Shower activity is mainly along the coast and Olympics at this time but should track inland as the day progress. Highs are to remain in the upper 50s to mid 60s, well below average for mid June. The previous discussion remains below along with an updated marine/aviation section:
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&& .SYNOPSIS...Upper level low off the British Columbia coast will continue to move southeast ending up over Western Washington Saturday. Weak front spinning out of the low moving through later this morning and early this afternoon. Low remaining in the vicinity Sunday before moving east Monday. Weak upper level trough over Western Washington Tuesday and Wednesday. Upper level ridge will try to build into British Columbia Thursday. && .SHORT TERM /TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY/...Satellite imagery shows upper level low made good progress Thursday moving out of the Gulf of Alaska and is now west of Haida Gwaii. Weak front spinning out of the low off the coast. Doppler radar picking up the leading edge of the precipitation associated with the front just reaching the north coast at 4 am/11z. Skies still mostly clear over the southern portion of the area with mostly cloudy skies north. Temperatures at 4 am were in the mid 40s to mid 50s. Weak front reaching the coast later this morning moving through the interior late morning/early afternoon. Showers associated with the front along the north coast will spread inland over mainly the northern portion of the area this morning into the early afternoon. The front is pretty narrow so expect the duration of the shower activity to only be a few hours at best. Temperatures aloft cooling during the day with the upper level low continuing to move towards Western Washington. This combined with increasing cloud cover will keep highs in the upper 50s to mid 60s. Upper level over Vancouver Island tonight moving over Western Washington Saturday. Air mass becoming unstable with lifted indexes 0 to -3 and lapse rates plus 7 or 8C. Models have the 500 mb temperatures by 00z Sunday in the minus 26c to -28C range. Little in the way of daytime heating Saturday but convective temperatures are only in the mid to upper 50s. Showers developing tonight as the low approaches with showers and a chance of thunderstorms Saturday for the entire area. Snow levels as low as 4000 feet so we could see some snow, will not really accumulate, on the higher passes, Washington, Chinook, Cayuse, that are open this time of year. Lows tonight in the mid to upper 40s. Highs Saturday in the mid 50s to lower 60s, a good 10 degrees below normal. Low weakening Saturday night with the low drifting into Eastern Washington Sunday. Shower activity decreasing during the day Sunday. Chance for thunderstorms also decreasing Saturday night into Sunday. While lapse rates remain near plus 7C, lifted indexes go positive and the flow aloft becomes northerly on the back side of the low. It still going to be a cool day for Father`s Day with highs only a couple of degrees either side of 60. .LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/...Extended model solutions not showing as much consistency as earlier in the week. The general idea is northerly flow aloft on the back side of the low Monday with a very weak trough carving out over the area Tuesday and Wednesday then a weak ridge trying to build into British Columbia late in the week. The theme of all this is weak. Weak onshore flow in the lower levels, weak trough, weak ridge. Air mass remaining slightly unstable for most of the period. With none of the features being able to take over the pattern will keep a chance of showers for almost the entire period. Ensemble solutions leaning towards the ridge winning out in the latter part of next week for some dry and warmer weather. Slow warming trend with highs Monday in the lower to mid 60s warming to the mid 60s to mid 70s by Thursday. Felton && .AVIATION...
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Southwest flow aloft continues over Western Washington today with an upper trough poised offshore. A dissipating frontal boundary is moving into the coast this morning. The air mass will become modestly unstable late today through Saturday as cooler air aloft associated with the trough moves over the region. Areas of MVFR ceilings will lift to primarily VFR this afternoon with scattered showers across the region. More widespread MVFR ceilings expected Saturday morning with shower coverage increasing as upper tough axis moves overhead. Locally gusty S/SW surface winds are expected with front today. KSEA...MVFR ceilings lifting to mainly VFR this afternoon with scattered showers in the vicinity of the terminal. Ceilings lower again to MVFR late tonight or early Saturday A.M. with increasing shower activity. Surface winds S/SW 8 to 14 knots...with higher gusts at times through mid-afternoon. 27
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&& .MARINE...
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Broad surface troughing will develop across the waters today through midday Saturday. Surface ridging will gradually rebuild over the coastal waters later Saturday into Sunday with lower pressure remaining over the interior. This will increase onshore flow somewhat...with likely small craft advisory westerlies in the central/east strait Saturday afternoon and evening. Looking ahead to early/mid next week, a more typical early summer pattern takes shape with broad surface ridging over the coastal/offshore waters and lower pressure east of the Cascades. This will maintain onshore flow with westerlies reaching small craft advisory strength in the central/east strait daily in the late afternoon and evening. Otherwise, fairly quiet conditions are expected across area waters. 27
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&& .SEW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WA...None. PZ...None. && $$