Kirkland Christmas Forecast: Rainy Holiday Weekend Ahead

KIRKLAND, WA — For most of Washington, it will not be a white Christmas this year, but it will be the second best thing. Or perhaps the third or fourth best thing.

That is to say: it's going to be a rainy holiday. On the plus side, however, once the day itself passes, Washingtonians can look forward to conditions improving over the weekend, and sunny days early next week.

Plus, overnight lows will be warmer than they were Thursday night, when meteorologists reported the coldest recorded temperature since January.

Starting Christmas morning, a front will be moving in from the ocean, bringing light rains to the coasts in the a.m. hours, and rain inland and across the Puget Sound by the afternoon.

Mountain snow is possible, but forecasters say it won't bring as much snowfall as other recent weather patterns.

Following a rainy Christmas afternoon, the National Weather Service says conditions will remain unsettled through the weekends, with some slight improvements by Sunday afternoon.

Saturday, however, will bring more of the same rain, plus the potential for breezes and gusts as windy weather blows in from the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Those winds are expected to peak before noon Saturday, and die off into the evening.

But the first real improvements will begin Sunday, when the cloud cover is expected to break apart, giving way to partly sunny skies which will turn into mostly sunny skies by Monday and Tuesday. Sunday through Tuesday are all expected to be dry, after which another system is likely to bring in a second bout of wet weather, just in time to rain out your New Year's Eve celebrations.

Here is the 5-day weather outlook in Kirkland:

Friday: 45°/43° (Rain)
Saturday: 48°/39° (Rain likely)
Sunday: 47°/33° (Partly sunny)
Monday: 44°/35° (Mostly sunny)
Tuesday: 43°/38° (Chance of rain)

Patch reporter Charles Woodman contributed to this story.