Western US weather
California warmth fades this weekend; A drier pattern overall out West
By Brian Thompson , AccuWeather meteorologist
4/18/2019, 6:01:32 AM
Share this article:
As the month of April continues to chug along, the weather maps are looking more and more like the end of the wet season. Dry weather is starting to take hold.
Thursday will likely be the warmest day of the week along the California coast, with highs reach the 70s in San Francisco and the 80s in Downtown Los Angeles. Across the interior, Friday could be even a touch warmer with temperatures approaching record levels in places like Merced and Fresno.
In addition to California, Phoenix will have a shot at their first 100-degree high temperature of the year on Friday.
We are tracking a cold front that will move through the Pacific Northwest from Friday into Saturday.
That front will enter the Pacific Northwest with some rain Thursday night into Friday, eventually spreading southeastward into the northern Rockies by Saturday. Rain will also spread into Northern California and Nevada, with snow levels pretty high - generally above 8,000 or 9,000 feet.
The front, but more importantly a pair of troughs moving into California this weekend, will bring some cooler weather statewide. They will also kick up the wind on Saturday in many places, with the strongest gusts over the High Desert, where winds could gust over 40 or 50 mph.
As the troughs lift out heading into early next week, temperatures across the Southwest will start to bounce back some.
Following the cold front, the next shot at any rain will be across western Washington around the middle of next week.
The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of AccuWeather, Inc. or AccuWeather.com
Western US weather
-
End in sight to the parade of storms in the West as May comes to a close
Western US weather - May 22, 2019, 1:34:07 PM EDT
It's been an unusually stormy May across the West with constant storms, but it looks like the pattern will start to change as we enter the final days of May.
-
Abnormal parade of May storms in the West continues into next week
Western US weather - May 17, 2019, 9:36:05 AM EDT
A rare string of May storms will continue to bring rounds of rain (and high mountain snow) to the West through next week.
-
Following unusual May downpours, more opportunities for rain coming to the Southwest
Western US weather - May 13, 2019, 6:46:15 AM EDT
An unusually stormy weather pattern is taking shape across the West over the next 10 days.
-
Downpours, thunderstorms threaten to bring flash flooding to parts of the Southwest into the weekend
Western US weather - May 09, 2019, 1:03:26 PM EDT
-
Seattle may wind up warmer than Phoenix late this week; showery weather returns to the Southwest
Western US weather - May 05, 2019, 12:55:24 PM EDT
-
Cooler into California and the Southwest into early next week thanks to a slow upper low
Western US weather - May 02, 2019, 10:17:28 AM EDT
-
A look back at the specifics of a wild, wet and snowy winter in California and the Southwest
Western US weather - April 25, 2019, 6:00:47 PM EDT
-
Crunching some numbers for the rainy (and snowy) season in the Northwest
Western US weather - April 22, 2019, 8:49:09 AM EDT
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Western US weather
Meteorologist Jordan Root provides regular updates and analysis on western U.S. weather.
-
RealImpact of weather
with Dr. Joel N. Myers
-
Northeast US weather
with Elliot Abrams
-
Canadian weather
with Brett Anderson
-
Astronomy
with Dave Samuhel
-
Global climate change
with Brett Anderson
-
WeatherMatrix
with Jesse Ferrell
-
Southern US weather
with Frank Strait
-
Global weather
with Eric Leister
-
Western US weather
with Jordan Root
Comments
Comments that don't add to the conversation may be automatically or manually removed by Facebook or AccuWeather. Profanity, personal attacks, and spam will not be tolerated.