WESTERN WASHINGTON — There is one more storm system to get through before calmer weather in western Washington.
It won’t be as strong as the one on Tuesday night into Wednesday, but it will be wet Thursday, with gusty winds redeveloping. A few more trees or limbs may come down and cause power outages, but luckily, it will be much less messy into the weekend.
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Rain started forming early Thursday, with the culprit being the final surge of the Pineapple Express. This time, though, it focuses farther south – closer to and across the Oregon border. That’s where the heaviest rain and strongest winds will be.
Still, there will be another round of wind and rain around the Emerald City. Pacific, Lewis, and Yakima Counties look to be the wettest. Some higher elevations in those counties see 3 inches or more of rain. With snow levels on the south side of Mount Rainier back up above 7,000 feet, river flooding south of Seattle will have to be monitored again.
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North of Seattle, for Mount Vernon, Bellingham, and Anacortes, the rain will be lighter and more “off-and-on,” even ending in many spots before the evening.
Seattle and Bellevue, right on the line between lighter rain north and heavier rain south, should see the rain breaking up toward the end of the day and evening. Fans should be prepared for showers during the Seahawks game, but the trend will be for the rain to push south before kickoff.
Wind advisories are in effect again.
For eastern Kitsap County, Seattle, the downtown Everett /Marysville area, Eastside, foothills and valleys of central King County, and the Shoreline / Lynnwood / south Everett areas, the advisory lasts from noon to 7 p.m.
For the South Sound, Chehalis Valley, southwest Washington, along the Pacific Coast, over the islands, and the Northwest Interior (Bellingham and Mount Vernon), the advisory lasts until 11 p.m.
Winds won’t be as strong as they were on Tuesday night, but still may approach 50 mph. Weakened trees from the last storm may reach their breaking point and come down, along with power lines. A few more power outages may occur, mainly in the afternoon and evening.
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Conditions will calm down but remain slightly unsettled on Friday and Saturday. A few periods of rain, in between longer-lasting dry stretches, will temporarily dampen things at times. Mountain snow will continue off and on, so monitor pass conditions at Snoqualmie before traveling.
Sunday will be a little wetter, but with the atmospheric river setting up farther south next week, western Washington’s storm systems will come in from the northwest.
Expect colder periods of passing rain and more mountain snow, with a much lower risk of river flooding.
