September 15, 2020

Forecast: September 15th, 2020

By Calen Randall

Good Morning Huskies,

It is official. 2020 has made Washingtonians miss our windy, rainy weather. If the pitter-patter of showers yesterday got you inexplicably excited, do not worry, you were not alone in your exuberance. Remember our rainy weekend streak back in May and June that had Washingtonians pleading for dry weather? Little did we know we would yearn for those blustery wet weekends that cleansed the air, mere months later.

While the first rain of September is a nice boost, it has unfortunately not moved the needle on the smoke yet. Air quality has gone south, or rather, the smoke from the south continues to filter into the area. The offshore low pressure trough is directing scattered showers onshore, but without a stark contrast in pressure between the trough and the coast, strong winds are unlikely until the system moves inland. Unfortunately, with flow transporting more smoke from Oregon, air quality will likely get worse, before it gets better.

With the atmosphere opting for the long road to clearer skies, meteorologists are now focused on the forecast for Thursday and Friday as the trough moves inland. While it is not the windiest system, up to a quarter inch of rain could fall on Thursday. A good dose of rain could eliminate remaining wildfires on the western side of the state and help clear our air a little. As the trough passes through the area on Friday, marine air will filter into western Washington. Yes, last weekend you heard meteorologists discussing a marine push and the smoke worsened. However, last weekend much of the marine air was tainted with smoke blown out over the ocean by strong easterly winds. This marine push should be far less smoky and meteorologists remain hopeful that the incoming marine air can help improve our air quality around Friday.

Despite our air quality woes, some lucky residents in western Washington were treated to pockets of blue sky this morning. The sun even made a brief appearance in some regions. If you want some much needed positivity, check out this NWS Seattle thread on the elusive blue sky! If you have seen blue skies today, let us know!

Reach forecaster Calen Randall at theuwdawgcast@uw.edu. Twitter: @Wx19Calen

7-DAY FORECAST	CURRENT VIEW FROM ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE BUILDING