Overnight: Rain likely. Cloudy, with a low around 38. South wind around 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Thursday: Rain. High near 49. South wind between 13 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%.

Thursday Night: Rain. Low around 41. South wind between 6 and 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Friday: Showers. High near 53. South southwest wind between 15 and 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Friday Night: Showers. Low around 39. South wind between 11 and 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Saturday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 52.

Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 37.

Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 52.

Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 43.

Monday: Partly sunny, with a high near 57.

Monday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 44.

Tuesday: A chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 56.

Tuesday Night: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 41.

Wednesday: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 50.

Puget Sound and Hood Canal- 300 AM PST Thursday March 11 2010

Small Craft Advisory in effect until 1 PM PST this afternoon:

Today: South wind 20 to 30 kt, easing to 10 to 20 kt this afternoon. Wind waves 3 to 5 ft, subsiding to 1 to 3 ft this afternoon. Rain.

Tonight: South wind rising to 15 to 25 kt. Wind waves building to 2 to 4 ft. Rain.

Friday: Southeast wind 15 to 25 kt, becoming south 20 to 30 kt in the late morning and early afternoon. Wind waves building to 3 to 5 ft. Showers.

Friday night: Southwest wind 15 to 25 kt. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft.

Saturday through Monday: South wind 10 to 15 kt. Wind waves 1 or 2 ft.

Admiralty Inlet- 300 AM PST Thursday March 11 2010

Gale Warning in effect until 11 AM PST this morning:

gale watch in effect from late tonight through Friday afternoon:

Today: South wind 30 to 40 kt, highest north part. South wind easing to 15 to 25 kt by later this morning. Wind waves 5 to 8 ft, subsiding to 2 to 4 ft in the afternoon. Rain.

Tonight: Southeast wind 10 to 20 kt. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. Rain.

Friday: Southeast wind rising to 30 to 40 kt. Wind waves building to 5 to 7 ft. Showers.

Friday night: South wind 15 to 25 kt. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft.

Saturday through Monday: Southeast wind 10 to 20 kt. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft.

national weather service Seattle Washington 855 PM PST Wednesday March 10 2010

Synopsis: A strong cold front will bring rain and locally windy conditions to Western Washington tonight as it moves inland. Periods of rain will continue Thursday and Thursday night as the front stalls over the area. Rain and wind will increase Friday morning as a surface low traveling up the stalled front moves northward across the Washington coast. The rain will change to showers Friday afternoon as an approaching upper level trough pushes the front east of the area. Showers will decrease Saturday and end Sunday as an upper level ridge moves overhead. Another frontal system will stall just offshore Sunday into early next week.

Short Term: the approaching cold front has just moved east of 50n/130w At 02z and appears to be on track to reach the north coast around 12z. the main surface well offshore near 53n/138w Is heading toward the ak panhandle, but very strong pressure gradients along the cold front will generate very windy conditions along the coast and over the north interior tonight. Latest 7 PM obs show the bli-yzt gradient up to 17.1 Mb and winds starting to come up along the coast and over the north interior. Expect highest sustained winds in the 30s with gusts to 45-55 mph. Wind advisory for the north interior looks good at this point with the highest winds between 06z-15z.

The main short term problem is snow amount over the mountains. The freezing level at uil was 2600 feet this evening and freezing levels are similarly low over the Cascades. Models show snow levels remaining at or below pass levels through Thursday morning then rising slowly to 5000 feet or by early Friday morning. The inbound front will generate some decent snow fall over night, but lighter snow should continue this afternoon and tonight as the front hangs up over the area. both 00z nam and 12z 4 km wrf-gfs show enough qpf/snow Accumulation over 12 and 24 hour periods the next couple of days to justify a winter storm warning. Will cover the period through Thursday night, figuring that snow levels will be above the main Cascade passes on Friday. Snow levels will be low enough with this first front so that river flooding will not be a problem.

As mentioned above, after the cold front moves inland after 12z Thursday, it will end up stalling over west Washington during the day. strong southwest flow aloft will diminish so the heavy precipitation over the mountains will ease, but periods of rain/snow Will continue.

new 00z gfs/nam Are in rather good agreement showing an upper level trough approaching from the west Thursday night. This feature causes a wave to form on the front, developing into a surface low that moves north just west of the coastal waters early Friday morning. This may produce another very windy period mainly for the coast, and another increase in rain for the rest of the area. Will have to watch the skokomish river with this wave, since the snow levels will be around 5000 feet.

the approaching upper level trough does manage to push the stalled front east of the Cascades by Friday afternoon, with a showery regime setting up for Friday night/Saturday Morning. kam

Long Term: previous discussion from the 4 PM afd, models tend to be agreeing on building a ridge over the idaho/mt Border Sunday into Monday. This will stand up the next frontal system just offshore. Left rain in the forecast for the coast and northern interior, but removed possibilities of precipitation from the interior with a nod to the drying trend. Depending on the amount of sunshine Monday could end up being quite warm with surface offshore flow developing. The trough will pass over the area on Tuesday with showers lingering into Wednesday. damico

hydrology, rain/snow Develops tonight as a cold front approaches the area. Snow levels are low, freezing level 2600 feet at uil this evening, and will remain below pass levels through Friday. This initial front has strong southwest flow near 50 kt at 850 mb that will generate heavy precipitation over the olympics and north Cascades, but with the snow level so low, lower runoff will keep rivers below flood stage. The front will stall over the area Thursday, but snow levels will remain on the low side and precipitation will be lighter.

A wave moves up the stalled front early Friday morning, for another round of strong south-southwest flow, mainly affecting the olympics. Snow levels look to be 4000-4500 feet with perhaps another 1.5 Inches of rain. Will have to keep an eye on precipitation totals and snow levels with this second wave, but at this point the river models are keeping everything below flood stage.

An upper level trough keeps showers going through Saturday and an upper level ridge should dry the area out Sunday and Monday, and possibly stalling the next front offshore through Tuesday. So, no threat of flooding is expected Saturday through early next week. The flood risk is low through the next 10 days for the green river. kam

Aviation: A strong front will reach the coast around 09z, then stall over interior Western Washington through Thursday morning. Strong southerly winds aloft will become swly on Thursday. Moisture will increase at all levels across Western Washington this evening with rain developing and continuing into Friday morning. Mvfr cigs will become widespread by midnight with areas of ifr.

Ksea, rain will increase at the terminal by 06z. Cigs will lower to predominately mfr conditions after midnight. South wind 8-12 kt, becoming after 11z southwest 12-18 kt with gusts to 30 kt. dtm

Marine: A couple of strong front will bring strong winds to all the coastal waters at times through the end of the week. The first front already entering the coastal waters will produce gale force winds there tonight as well as some of the inland waters through Thursday as the front will be slow to push through. Strong small craft winds are expected in places like Puget Sound not under a Gale Warning. dtm

The second system will be a deepening low center that will lift north off the coast just inside 130w on Friday. This should bring another round of gales for at least the coast and west entrance. The 12z gfs would suggest the possibility of storm-force winds for the outer coastal waters on Friday morning, but it seems to be an outlier for now. haner/dtm

Watches/Warnings/Advisories: Wa, wind advisory north interior and Admiralty Inlet tonight. Snow advisory mountains tonight through Thursday evening. Pz, Gale Warning coastal waters, entrances to the strait, northern inland waters and Admiralty Inlet. Small Craft Advisory central strait and Puget Sound/Hood Canal. Small Craft Advisory for rough bar grays harbor bar.