Atmospheric river alert: rainy weather, ‘taste of fall’ headed for the South Sound
The leaves in Western Washington have begun to embrace the fall, turning yellow, orange and red. Now the weather is catching up.
That’s right: Fall is nearly here — and here to stay.
Tacoma will get some sun on Saturday and Sunday, with highs hovering in the low 60s, according to the National Weather Service-Seattle’s seven-day forecast.
Then comes the rain.
“After this weekend, hello Fall,” the weather gurus wrote in a post on X (Twitter).
Tacoma weather forecast
This will probably be the last warm-and-dry weekend for a while, NWS Seattle meteorologist Harrison Rademacher told The News Tribune. After Saturday’s morning fog clears, much of the area will see “plentiful sunshine.”
Same with most of Sunday until later in the day.
That’s when the region will start to transition into more gloomy weather heading into next week, Rademacher said.
Two atmospheric-river events are expected to pass through Western Washington, he said. The first dose of precipitation will start Monday with light rain loads. The second, coming Tuesday into Friday, is predicted to be stronger and carry widespread showers throughout the South Sound.
“It looks like it will be very beneficial rain for a lot of areas in Western Washington,” Rademacher said — Tacoma included.
Rademacher explained that we’re now transitioning into fall. November, statistically speaking, is the rainiest time for Western Washington, he said.
Breezy conditions will start sweeping certain parts of the Puget Sound early next week, according to a forecast briefing by NWS Seattle. Gustier winds will come later on. Nearby rivers will also experience “significant rises.”
River flooding probably won’t accompany this round of rain, per the briefing, but next week’s weather is getting the region primed for potential flooding later in the season.
“It’s hard to see beyond next week,” Rademacher said, “but it’s going to be a taste of fall here coming up.”
This story was originally published October 12, 2024 at 11:08 AM.
