70F on Friday?

Time to get out the shorts, sunglasses, and beach gear.

After one of the coldest springs on record it appears that temperatures will climb into the 70s on Friday and perhaps for a few lucky folks tomorrow.

The air is progressively warming and today temperatures hit the mid 60s in much of the lowlands. Warm enough to get our old friend, the Sound Breeze, to start up. The Sound Breeze is our regional sea breeze that is caused by the difference in temperature between a relatively warm Puget Sound interior and the cooler water to the north. Here are some winds from the Washington State ferries this afternoon:

Moderate (16-18 kt) northerlies associated with the Sound breeze in mid-Sound. As the land gets warmer, the Sound breeze strengths. Tomorrow the air will warm further and high pressure will build along the coast (see graphic). There will be no offshore flow, so don't expect a scorcher! Another step up of a few degrees.


On Friday, this benign process will continue, with a few more degrees added to the total. Probcast, the UW high-tech prediction system, which is generally very good for such dry, warm periods, is going 70F at Sea Tac on Friday (see graphic).

And if you want real warmth, head over to eastern Washington, where upper 70s and 80s will reign on Friday (see probcast Friday max temp max on Friday below)

The weekend? Cooler, with a few light showers. Sorry....

Finally, beautiful example of cirrus moving in aloft midday on the Olympics cam. And you can see cumulus forming over the Olympics....but the atmosphere is too stable for much development.