Seattle weather forecast: Warmer temps on way, but won’t last long

The average May temperature in Seattle so far is the warmest on record, according to the National Weather Service. 

The average high for the month through Saturday was 71.4 degrees, with an average low of 51.5, both of which are the highest ever for the first three weeks of May, the weather service said.

Seattle has also had five 80-plus-degree days this May, nearing the record of seven days, which was set in 1958. Cut that cake any way you like it: This month has been unusually warm.

With warming temperatures on the way again, Seattle could mark a sixth May day over 80 degrees this week, which would be the most since 1995, according to the weather service. 

Cloud cover was expected to keep Western Washington cool for a bit longer, though, before starting to exit east over the Cascades on Wednesday.

High pressure will begin to nudge into the region from the west, allowing temperatures to warm over the next couple of days.

By Wednesday afternoon, the sun was expected to be out and highs were forecast to warm to the mid-60s to low 70s, the weather service said.

Temperatures will continue to climb a few degrees Thursday and Friday, hitting the mid-70s by Thursday afternoon and low 80s by Friday across the interior. 

Friday is expected to be the warmest day of the week, said Samantha Borth, a meteorologist with the weather service in Seattle.

Areas along the coast will remain a touch cooler, with temperatures over the next few days expected to be in the upper 60s to low 70s.

All the while, showers and isolated thunderstorms may pop up in the Cascades through the end of the workweek, the weather service said.

Weather models continue to hint at a pattern shift on Saturday, meaning the return of cooler temperatures and a chance of showers “mainly over the mountains” through Memorial Day weekend, Borth said.