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The heaviest rain will fall Sunday afternoon into Monday morning – KIRO 7 News Seattle

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An atmospheric river event has already reached the region this afternoon. This late-season event occurs in two waves.

The first wave is already underway, bringing the heaviest rainfall from today through tomorrow morning. There will be some gaps between the two systems. The gaps will produce isolated showers or brief lulls in activity through Monday afternoon/evening.

It is worth noting that while the second wave appears weaker than its predecessor, there will be periods of heavy rainfall. Overall, current forecast models suggest that this second system will bring less rainfall.

Nevertheless, the impacts on flood-prone areas are being closely monitored.

Windy weather is expected throughout the weather event, with wind gusts averaging 25-35 mph expected in most areas.

There are no warnings or alerts west of the Cascades due to wind, although falling tree limbs are possible with these gusts. It’s also best to secure any loose items now through Tuesday.

This end-of-season atmospheric weather event brings with it some special concerns compared to fall/winter events.

It also contains some important information:

  • While the impact on most locations is insignificant, some farms may be affected by minor river flooding at this time of year, particularly crops grown in flood plains.
  • Road construction projects will also be affected, as many projects have already started.
  • Due to the heavy rainfall, there is an increased risk to recreational areas.
  • But unlike atmospheric river systems that put us on high alert in the fall and winter, the net result of an atmospheric river event in the Pacific Northwest in early June would be consistently positive! Such heavy rains are very unusual in the lowlands and mountains after May and would cause the onset of our serious wildfire concerns to be “delayed” by several weeks.

The latest forecast models predict rainfall amounts from now until Tuesday:

Lowland: 1-2″

Mountains: 3–5 inches (6 inches on the south slopes of the Olympics)

Coast: 2-4″

These forecasts are expected to exceed monthly totals across the state. Typically, this is the average amount of precipitation we receive in June in the following areas:

  • SeaTac: 1.45 inches
  • Olympics: 1.46″
  • Quillayute: 3.30″
  • Hoquiam: 2.01″
  • Bellingham: 1.61″

However, the rain in such a short period of time has triggered flood warnings for Skagit, Snohomish, King, Pierce, Lewis and Mason counties. Rivers will be flooding, but some rivers may be close to flooding.

Flooding in urban areas and flash floods around burn scars are also cause for concern. The flood warning is now in effect until Wednesday morning.

By Wednesday, the forecast will make a complete U-turn. After cool and extremely wet weather, Mother Nature is now heating things up even more.

From Wednesday until next weekend, the skies will not only clear up, but temperatures will also rise significantly.

On Friday and Saturday, temperatures could be between 25 and 27 degrees. In Seattle, the current record temperatures for Friday and Saturday are 32 degrees (2003) and 27 degrees (2015), respectively.

The Climate Prediction Center has released its 8-14 day forecast for the period June 7-13 and temperatures across the state are expected to remain above average. In addition, precipitation forecasts for this period are below average.

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