Changes coming to the forecast, weekend still looking great

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Stars, strips and a hummingbird. Viewer pic from Steve in Concrete.

SEATTLE -- Our unseasonably dry spell looks to continue for the weekend-- but there are some changes to the forecast as we get into next week. The ridge of high pressure continues to dominate our weather. That rigdge in the atmosphere forces incoming systems out in the Pacific Ocean to head far north into Canada. The bad news for sun lovers is that ridge is showing signs of breaking down a touch, so a few mostly mountain showers sneak back into part of the weekend forecast north of Seattle.

TODAY just beautiful. Highs about 75-80 with lots of sunshine for the I-5 corridor. Even the coast sees some nice sunshine this afternoon with highs in the 60s. Tonight over lows about 50-55.

SATURDAY has a few morning clouds but still the nice sunshine. There's a chance of some showers north of Seattle, but mostly in the Olympics and Cascades. High temps about 65-75 for everywhere west of the Cascades, except for low 60s on the Coast.

SUNDAY also looks great for anything you'd like to do outside, again a few mountain showers or pop up t-storms are possible. This is the time of year when mountain hikers and campers need to pay attention to the weather in the afternoon. If you hear the rumble of thunder you should take shelter immediately. High temps for the lowlands should be 60-65 Coast, 70-75 for Seattle/Puget Sound, near 80 in SW Washington and towards Portland.

NEXT WEEK we'll see some changes arrive in the form of increasing clouds and slightly cooler temperatures. Monday might have a few isolated showers north of Everett, but again mostly in the mountains. Tuesday and Wednesday look like they'll have morning clouds and afternoon sunshine. Thursday looks like the day when everyone will snap this spell of unseasonably dry weather. As of this writing, today will be day 12 without any measurable rain so the count could be up to 17 dry days in a row before that Thursday rainfall. The driest Seattle June ever on record even had 0.13" of rain and so far this month-- we've had none at all at SeaTac.