Western WA weather: Highest temperatures of the year so far

Word on the street is the sun is back.

If it’s hard to recall, that bright, shining orb in the sky actually does produce heat, which it will kindly display for Western Washington seemingly for the first time this year in the days ahead.

According to the National Weather Service, the highest temperatures of the year will greet us Saturday and Sunday.

But before then, temperatures Friday continued their upward trend, making up considerable ground from the low 40s into the mid-60s, which is about 10 degrees above normal for this time of year, according to the weather service.

Offshore and downslope winds across the region — with gusts up to 25 mph through the Cascade gaps — helped the warm-up Friday.

Friday was, simply put by Charles Dickens, “one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.”

Fitting, really, as spring is waiting in the wings.

Temperatures will rise even more this weekend, as the ridge of high pressure responsible for the warm-up situates itself just north of us, over our Canadian neighbors.

As the sun shines abundantly, highs will flirt with record temperatures in the upper 60s to low 70s, especially through the southwest interior and the western slopes of both the Olympics and Cascades.

These temperatures are 15 to 18 degrees above average for mid-March, the weather service said.

If Seattle reaches 70 degrees this weekend, it’ll be about a month ahead of schedule. The average first 70-degree day is April 15, and 70-degree days before April have occurred in just 15 of the past 78 years, according to the weather service.

Overall, a “very pleasant weekend for Western Washington,” the weather service said, as winter makes a silent exit.

Honoring the calendar, Mother Nature will keep us warm through the start of spring on Tuesday.

By Wednesday, though, as if spring is fatigued from seemingly borrowing some of April’s heat to usher us in, rain and temperatures close to normal will be back in the forecast.

As we spring into the next season over the coming days, we think it would be nice to greet it with some words: We want to hear your goodbyes to winter and hellos to spring, in limerick, as St. Patrick’s Day necessitates.

Email your limerick and name to morningbrief@seattletimes.com by noon Monday, and if we get enough fun ones, we’ll publish a selection to carry us into spring.