March in June

 If you were thinking of going on a hike on Friday or Saturday, think again.

Early spring weather---cool and wet--will take over a few days starting on Friday.

Consider the predicted temperatures in Seattle (below).  Only 61F on Friday and 63F on Saturday.  Normal highs should be in the low 70s.

But if you want a real shocker, consider Stampede Pass at 4000 ft in the central Washington Cascades.  Highs only in the mid-40s and lows in the 30s on Friday and Saturday.

Are you sitting down?  The models are going for substantial SNOW above 5000 ft (see accumulated snowfall through Saturday evening below).

Even normally warm Yakima will get chilly, with lows in the 40s on Saturday and Sunday, with highs only reaching around 70°F for a few days.

Precipitation will be substantial for this time of the year, with the mountains getting hit particularly hard (see the predicted totals through Sunday at 5 AM below).  An inch in some places.

But the REALLY crazy precipitation will be in Oregon, where up to 3 inches will fall.  Nuts.

Why such unseasonable cold and wet weather?    An unusually strong upper-level Pacific low will move over our region on Friday and Saturday (see below)

This cool, moist period will help suppress any wildfire starts, resulting in a continuation of a BELOW-AVERAGE wildfire season in Washington State.   

Do me a favor....don't tell the Seattle Times ClimateLab folks about this....it will ruin their day.