Water vapor imagery this morning shows a juicy atmospheric river emptying into the Pacific Northwest and southwestern British Columbia with a strong west-northwest trending jet stream aloft. The main axis of the jet and the atmospheric river will be directed north of the border towards British Columbia over the next few days.

The weather in north-central Washington today will be mostly cloudy and unusually warm with high afternoon temperatures in the mid-1950s. Winds will be gusty with gusts of 25 to 30 mph in the Columbia Basin at times. today and tomorrow.

By Wednesday, the elevation ridge over the northwest will flatten out, with the jet becoming more oriented to the west. Widespread record temperatures are expected tomorrow with readings ranging into the upper 50s and lower to the mid-60s.

The weather trend from Thursday to Friday will be characterized by a rapid drop in temperatures. Expect partly cloudy skies each day with highs Thursday to the mid-50s, falling to the mid-40s for high temperatures on Friday.

A weak weather system could bring scattered showers on Saturday with highs in the upper 1940s.

On Sunday our area can expect calm weather during the day with highs of around 45 degrees.

Cloudy and humid Monday with 80% chance of rain and afternoon highs in the mid-1940s.