Cold Start To The Week, Then More Rain For Puget Sound: Forecast

SEATTLE — Some sunshine is back in the forecast Monday after an active weekend of wet weather, but colder temperatures are here to stay for at least another few days. As promised, Saturday and Sunday provided a few bouts of heavy rain, hail and even a scattering of thunderstorms across Western Washington, and predictions for a bit of snow in the mountains came to pass, too.

Snow levels remained relatively low Sunday evening, and the National Weather Service said another inch or two would be possible in portions of the Cascades, especially at Stevens Pass.

As cloud cover dissipates Monday, temperatures in the lowlands will tumble a few more degrees, making for another chilly afternoon, followed by what's likely to be the coldest morning in months — and even a frost for some.

"[W]ith clearing skies expected, Monday night/Tuesday morning appears to be the coldest of the week with widespread low temperatures in the 30s and possible freezing temperatures across areas of south Puget Sound, and perhaps even in a few of the outlying areas in the far east portions of the Seattle metro area," NWS Seattle wrote Sunday.

After the Tuesday morning chill, the rest of the week looks like it will fall into another wet groove. The early week break in the rain will be short-lived, with a good shot for showers returning Tuesday night and chances for rain continuing every day through next weekend. Afternoon highs are forecast in the low-to-mid 50s through at least Thursday, with overnight temperatures in the mid-40s.

"Another front approaches later Tuesday and pushes onshore into Wednesday with another round of widespread precipitation," forecasters wrote "Overall, the ensemble guidance supports a mean trough across the western U.S. late in the week, which will generally maintain a cooler pattern with at least the potential for a few weak disturbances to clip the region and bring some rain/higher Cascades snow chances at times."

Here's the 5-day weather outlook for the Seattle area:

• Monday: 54°/38° (Mostly sunny)
• Tuesday: 54°/45° (PM showers)
• Wednesday: 54°/44° (Chance of rain)
• Thursday: 55°/47° (Chance of rain)
• Friday: 58/47° (Chance of rain)