Thursday will likely be the warmest day of the year so far

Seattle could see temperatures close to 70 degrees

The ridge of high pressure will strengthen as it shifts east Thursday, giving many Western Washington cities their warmest day of the year so far. In Seattle, highs will be close to 70 degrees.

Seattle - A ridge of high pressure will settle in over the Pacific Northwest Wednesday and Thursday bringing warmer and drier weather to the area.

Wednesday is starting cool, calm, and clear. There are several areas below freezing this morning. Some high clouds will push in the second half of the day bringing mostly sunny skies and highs close to 60 degrees for the lowlands.

The ridge of high pressure will strengthen as it shifts east Thursday, giving many Western Washington cities their warmest day of the year so far. In Seattle, highs will be close to 70 degrees.

More clouds will push in Thursday evening with widespread rain showers expected early Friday morning. Daytime highs will drop nearly 15 degrees. Those showers will break up and become scattered heading into the late morning and afternoon. Areas in the convergence zone will see rain linger longer.

The weekend will stay mostly cloudy with light showers on Saturday. Sunday looks like the nicer day of the two this weekend with mainly dry conditions. Temps will stay cooler than average through the middle of next week.