December 4, 2024

Goodbye Fog, Hello Sun!

Last updated 10:30 AM, Wednesday, December 4th, 2024

By: Amelia Gordon, Ethan Knauss, Eric Theumer, and Justin Sjodin

It’s Wednesday of dead week, Huskies!

This morning’s fog is probably the last widespread fog that we’ll see this week, thankfully for our air quality levels. There was a Dense Fog Advisory in place until 10 AM this morning for most of Puget Sound.

We can credit upper level ridging for the low visibility conditions that we’ve been seeing these past few days, but a pattern change is right around the corner to welcome us for the weekend. The graphic below shows the mid-levels of the atmosphere. You can think of the green line as a conveyor belt for our weather in the PNW. Ridging appears as a nice orange arch moving over Seattle, keeping winds calm and rain out of our area. A trough, which will begin to develop Friday night into Saturday, shows up as a blue dip that will bring in breezy conditions and rain.

A warm front attached to the trough that moves into the region Friday night will bring warmer temperatures and rain to the PNW early Saturday morning. Expect moderate rainfall throughout the day Saturday, transitioning to showers until the system fully clears early Monday morning. Snow levels are expected to rise with the rising temperatures, so the Cascade passes shouldn’t see any significant accumulation on Saturday. Temperatures will cool back down on Sunday however, so there will be a chance of snow showers in the Cascades after snow levels drop.

Along with the rising temperatures and rain, breezy conditions will occur late Friday night into Saturday, with gusts reaching 30 mph. Winds will decrease on Sunday as the cold front passes through the region and cools us off once more.

Enjoy the sun today Huskies before the rain returns this weekend.

Reach forecasters Amelia Gordon, Ethan Knauss, Eric Theumer, and Justin Sjodin at uwdawgcast@uw.edu, on X/Twitter @TheUWDawgcast, or on Instagram @uwdawgcast.