Seattle gets a cool start to the week, but a warm-up is ahead

Warm sunshine by day and the shimmer of the northern lights by night — Western Washingtonians were treated to some truly stellar weekend weather. 

After a cooler Monday, a return to sunshine is on the menu this week.

Seattle didn’t break any heat records this past weekend, but temperatures were far warmer than typical for mid-May, according to the National Weather Service.

Daily highs in Seattle reached 84 degrees on Friday and 83 degrees on Saturday. Olympia set a new daily record on Friday when temperatures shot to 88 degrees, breaking the previous record of 87 degrees, which was set on May 10, 2020. 

In Seattle, a “fairly weak cold front” swept in clouds and cooler temperatures overnight on Sunday, with Monday’s highs hovering in the low 60s. 

Starting Tuesday, NWS meteorologist Anna Lindeman said, “We’re gonna dry out and warm up.” Temperatures could get close to 80 degrees by Wednesday, and sunshine should linger through the end of the week.

As for the northern lights, the geomagnetic storm that brought brilliant wisps of red, green and purple to Seattle’s skies “is starting to decrease,” Lindeman said. “As cool as it was on Friday, it kind of seems like it’s winding down and coming a lot closer to an end.”