WeatherWatcher: Off and on rain for the week ahead, but chilly. December in review

Sun streak is a high cirrus cloud reflecting the sun after sunset.
Photo by Lee Lageschulte

Forecast: Chilly and rainy for the next 7 days. We are looking at several cold fronts moving through the region one after another all the way through next weekend. No flooding rain thankfully, we’re taking on a northwesterly flow now, so the rain is cooler, and less potent than the atmospheric rivers we experienced last month.

High temperatures all week and next weekend are expected to be in the low to mid 40’s generally. Lows are expected to range in the mid to upper 30’s to near 40 each night. Saturday appears to be an exception with a high temperature near 50°F.

There are two other exceptions to our forecast this week. Tuesday appears to be a breezy to windy day, with wind gusts up to 35 mph possible. It's nothing we haven’t already experienced though, this winter. 

Wednesday night to Thursday morning, and again Thursday night to Friday morning there is a slight chance that we could see some snow mixed in with rain showers at times. This is only possible during the overnight hours as it is just too warm for anything serious. 

No accumulations are expected of snow this week, but if we do see an inch or two in the overnight hours it will quickly melt away during the daytime. I don’t expect to see any snow mixing in outside of the convergence zone, and often that convergence zone forms north of Shoreline usually between Lynnwood and Everett.

Bottom line: Chilly and rainy this week, breezy on Tuesday, and a very slight chance of some snow mixed in during the overnight hours Wednesday and Thursday. 

December in review:

A very stormy December compared to the past few years is now in the history books. We had many days of windy conditions exceeding 40mph gusts. More than average rainfall as well, with a temperature averaging nearly 4°F above normal. 

December 2025 daily high and low temperatures compared to normal at the North Ridge / Echo Lake weather station

We did cool down for the last week of December which for a week-to-week comparison was cooler than normal, just slightly compared historic data for the last week of December.

December 2025 total accumulated rainfall compared to normal at the North Ridge / Echo Lake weather station

We ended December above average for total rainfall by 0.3 inches. We had many rain events throughout the month, but the biggest chunk of that rain was during the week of back-to-back atmospheric rivers from December 15th until December 18th. During that time frame we received 2.41 inches of rain, for the month our total rainfall was 5.48 inches.

December 2025 Daily maximum wind gusts recorded at Paine Field in Everett WA

It was very windy in December as well, with 9 days reaching wind gusts to 35mph or greater at Paine Field in Everett. I’ve checked a couple of personal local weather stations in Shoreline that seem to record strong wind gusts as well, and they line up quite well with Paine Field, so I think Paine Field is a good source to trust for what winds we experience. Our strongest wind gust was 54 mph on December 15.

www.shorelineweather.com