January Could Be Warm, Dry In Puget Sound: Forecast

SEATTLE, WA - It's only the beginning of January, but the weather over the next month might feel like May.

The National Weather Service long-range forecasts for Puget Sound show a pretty good chance that Puget Sound will be warm and dry over the next 30 days.

More precisely, the probability of a warmer January is between 50 and 60 percent. The chance of a drier January is between 40 and 50 percent.

These estimates are based, in part, on surface temperatures near the equator in the Pacific Ocean. The NWS predicts that we're going to have an El Niño winter, and possibly spring.

But - at least through this weekend - we're going to have pretty typical winter weather. It's going to be very rainy, and temperatures will drop into the 30s. Here's what the rest of the week looks like:

Wednesday: A 30 percent chance of rain after 10am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 47. South wind around 6 mph.

Wednesday Night: Rain. Low around 42. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Thursday: Rain. High near 53. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Thursday Night: Rain. Cloudy, with a low around 44. Windy.

Friday: Rain likely. Cloudy, with a high near 49.

Friday Night: A chance of rain. Cloudy, with a low around 39.

Saturday: A chance of rain. Cloudy, with a high near 46.

Saturday Night: A chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 39.

Sunday: A chance of rain. Partly sunny, with a high near 46.

Patch file photo