What a Change A Week Makes

A week ago, there was no snow on the mountains and major smoke from wildfires on the eastern slopes of the Cascades.

Monday morning, lots of snow in the mountains and no apparent smoke.

A week ago, several surface monitors indicated poor quality with very bad air near Wenatchee.

Monday morning, nearly all sensors showed good air quality (green).

A week ago, the Snoqualmie River (near Carnation) was at record low levels for the date.  This is no longer true, and soon the river will rise to ABOVE normal levels.

Temperatures that were consistently rising above average highs are now consistently below normal highs, as illustrated by a plot of high and low temperatures at SeaTac airport.

A major weather shift since last week.  

And after a few dry days, expect rain to return Friday and  into the weekend (see total through Monday morning below).   

Moderate to heavy rain on the western sides of regional mountains and a nice rainshadow from Seattle northward over the lowlands.  Enjoy.