River of rain stretches 2,000 miles over the ocean. When will Seattle’s weather improve?

The atmospheric river that has brought almost 2 inches of rain to Seattle and 5 inches to parts of the Olympic Peninsula in the past 24 hours is stretching for 2,000 miles over the Pacific Ocean.

But don’t despair: We’re not getting all of it.

After Tuesday, we are likely halfway through our share, according to Courtney Carpenter, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle.

We’ll get another blast of heavy rain Tuesday night into Wednesday that’s expected to dump another inch or two on Seattle before drying up enough on Wednesday that we might see the sun before it sets, she said.

Thursday is expected to be dry but cloudy for much of the day, with lighter rain Thursday night into Friday.

Once that passes through, it’ll be dry or semi-dry — but not sunny — through Saturday, Carpenter said.

And on Sunday, we can expect another round of lighter rain.

Then the atmospheric river — which has sometimes been called the Pineapple Express — drops to the south, meaning Monday and Tuesday should be dry.

Until then, expect more snow in the mountains and mountain passes, as well as a risk of flooding on rivers throughout Western Washington.

On Tuesday, the National Weather Service warned of closures due to water piling up on roads and encouraged drivers to obey any signs or barricades indicating closures.