Soaking rain for first weekend of spring in Seattle

Seattle weather: widespread rain returns this evening

FOX 13 Meteorologist Abby Acone has your seven-day forecast.

SEATTLE - While mostly dry weather is expected today in Seattle, an atmospheric river will take aim at western Washington Saturday night. This will trigger widespread rain overnight through much of the day Sunday.

Seattle weather: widespread rain returns this evening

FOX 13 Meteorologist Abby Acone has your seven-day forecast.

For Saturday, you can plan on mostly cloudy skies and a few sunbreaks. Highs will be slightly cooler than usual, reaching the upper 40s to the low 50s.

Most neighborhoods in the Seattle area will be dry until late Saturday night when wet weather returns.

Highs will reach the low 50s on Saturday afternoon in Seattle. (FOX 13 Seattle)

Later tonight, rain will start knocking on our door along the coast and the Northwest Interior. By midnight, rain should become much more widespread and extensive. The North Sound, the Olympics, North Cascades and North Coast will be impacted the most by heavy rain on Sunday. The soaking rain will make driving rather tricky.

It'll be slightly cooler-than-usual in Seattle on Saturday with wet weather back in action by the evening.

Highs will reach the upper 40s to low 50s around Western Washington Saturday. (FOX 13 Seattle)

Can you see the northern lights in Seattle?

If the skies weren’t so cloudy, parts of Western Washington (including Seattle), would have a chance of seeing the aurora borealis tonight!

Sadly, clouds and rain will likely impede the view. More details at the NOAA site.

A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect from 11 p.m. today to 11 a.m. Sunday for snow accumulations of five to ten inches. This includes Stevens Pass and Mount Baker. Otherwise, snow levels will rising dramatically on Sunday afternoon.

Ultimately, any snow will transition to rain over the passes by the second half of the day. The rapidly-changing conditions over the mountains will contribute to elevating the risk of avalanches in the backcountry.

Avoid skiing and snowboarding in the backcountry on Sunday (if not today as well)!

Moderate to heavy snow could make driving over the North Cascades hazardous Saturday night.

Snowy weather will develop over the North Cascades Saturday evening. (FOX 13 Seattle)

Winds will be gusty Sunday to Monday morning; however, winds will likely fall shy of the Wind Advisory criteria – meaning, winds aren’t expected to be damaging.

However, the blustery weather will make it feel cooler and more uncomfortable if you’re trying to spend time outside. In isolated cases, there may be gusts up to 40 mph. Gusts of 20-30 mph will be more common.

An atmospheric river event will trigger widespread rain on Sunday in Seattle.

Temperatures gradually warm in Seattle into Monday afternoon. (FOX 13 Seattle)

River levels will be rising as heavy rain sweeps through the region, but only the Skokomish River looks vulnerable to flooding by Sunday night. We’ll monitor that closely. There, a flood watch is in effect.

The warmest weather of 2025 arrives on Tuesday as temperatures boost to almost 70 degrees in Seattle! Many communities could see their first 70s of the year.

Temperatures remain mild on Wednesday. Showers and thunderstorms could develop at some point Wednesday afternoon.

Cooler, wetter and breezier weather is back in action on Thursday – just in time for the Mariners home opener!