June Gloom.. Auf Wiedersehen

The shower chances are limited to areas northeast of Everett stretching towards the foothills of the Cascades.  Satellite loops show thin broken clouds off the coast, and that is giving us pockets of blue skies.  If you look outside you a see a few of those pockets and later this afternoon well have bigger pockets of blue ( if not mostly blue by this evening.)  Even with some partial clearing, high temperatures will still be below normal.. in the low 60's for Western Washington.  The last bit of June gloom isn't looking to shady after all.

Unexpected Sushine

Mostly cloudy and showers is the theme for today and tomorrow as a system is moving towards British Columbia. The sun was out in the Green River Valley this morning and now this afternoon over Seattle north to Shoreline and east over Elliott Bay for beautiful outdoor pictures. If I had a boat this pocket of sunshine and breeze is great for sailing. Places near the Cascades are hogging all of the showers so far. Considering today was suppose to be more showery than tomorrow, I'm going with a bite of mostly cloudy and mainly dry with a few showers for tomorrow, the last day of June gloom.

Fizzling June and a Normal July

All signs pointed to a beautiful, sunny Monday as forecast after forecast had winds coming in from the east, which provides a drying and warming effect for the Puget Sound and areas west of the Cascade Range. I saw Alex in shorts and sunglasses anticipating for the afternoon sun routine.. nope, didn't materialize.  The air temperature was a cooler than Sunday but their was a muggy feel in the air as the winds came from the south, bring warm, humid air.  June will fizzle out in the tune of below normal high temperatures and at or above precipitation norms.

The bite today cloudy skies and a fifty percent chance of rain, similar to Monday but less humid and cooler for the next couple of days.  Enough about June, how about July 2011.
 

These are preliminary outlooks dated on the 16th of June 2011.  With La Nina out of the picture this summer is looking quite normal with around normal high temperatures and precipitation for the Northwest.  I'll post the updated outlook when that gets in.  July 1st is looking dry with morning clouds, afternoon sun and temperatures around...normal?!

Update 1:30pm

It's still a bit muggy at 71 degrees F and 68% humidity at Seatac compared 78% a few hours ago, but the wind is shifting more westerly drying the air a little, which is ironic because it is off the ocean.  However the westerly winds off the Pacific is an air conditioner giving us the refreshing, cool air with less moisture content that the  southerly winds which has the combination of tropical moisture and warmer air which has more water content and the mugginess.  The chance of rain is practically gone, leaving us with hazy sunshine and comfortable temperatures. Enjoy the rest of your day. 

Flip flops, Seattle Weather, and Wet Sidewalks.. BEWARE!

Early summer mornings in Seattle translate to wet sidewalks from dew and warmer temperatures for flip flop wearing conditions. I'm fairly aware of my surroundings, I look left and right before crossing the street making sure the walk light is on.  I am afraid of stepping on dog poop so every step is carefully made.  But, today was a different story.  Maybe I was still sleepy after spending seven hours flying (yes my carbon footprint this year will be astronomical.) Or daydreaming because I always manage to do that.

This one step out of my 22 years, 10 months, and 15 days of existence made me stop in my tracks.  I did the scary movie pose where something or someone is coming but I am dead in my tracks... staring and screaming.  Let me remind you I was sporting my flippy floppys and the sidewalks were wet.  What did I step on???  My mind freaked out and I don't even remember too much of how or what happened. This is what's left of my shattered memory of this morning...My toes felt wet as a body was strewn across my big toe, I had orange goo and guts on my foot.  From the pattern on the skin, I realized that..I stepped on a slug or shall I state stepped on and acrobatically burger flipped it onto my toes...how the heck did the body flip up and explode on top of my toe and foot? Just thinking about this makes my skin crawl.... after a moment of shock I gathered my marbles and walked five blocks to my final destination.  Why didn't I go caveman and wipe off the slug juice with a leaf? I waited until I reached the restroom with running water.

I tell myself now that the slug had already died and I happened to add insult to injury. And, instead of dying peaceful in someones garden the final resting spot was the sidewalk.  This slug is being remembered and has left a legacy on this blog.

My mistake can be a lesson learned for others.  Flip flops, Seattle weather, and wet sidewalks.  The result.. wet toes, guts, and shock.  Beware!

Summer has Arrived!

Sunrise 5:11am
Sunset 9:11pm
Length of Day 15h:59m:29s (provided from timeanddate.com)

Right on cue the sun is shining in the morning up and down the West Coast and will shine until the sunsets at 9:11pm!  Forecasted high temps today are in the mid 70s for the Seattle Metro Area.  Today's sunshine however is short lived as the clouds increase and temperatures dip through out the week; yep, below average, which average for this time of the year climbed to 72 degrees F.  Tourists in the Northwest, this is a taste of summer because the "unofficial" start of of summer is July 5th.  Scott Sistek at KOMO has kept up an odds it will rain chart, and for the past 117 years of record keeping July 4th is the wettest day of July for Seattle before trending dryer, with the driest period in Seattle from mid July to mid August.

I will be in Montreal for the next week. So the next update will be on Monday. Make it a great week.

In to the Deep End

From Spokane west to the Pacific Ocean everyone had a glimpse of the golden orb before the high clouds took over yesterday.  We have been stuck in a morning clouds and afternoon sun pattern for a while, coupled with cooler than normal temperatures and occasional overnight showers.

Today will feature hit or miss showers decreasing by the time we head into the evening hours.  So far SeaTac has recorded 0.26 inches of rain and here in the Udistrict 0.10 inches of rain.  Hit or miss showers can really dump and soak a place for an hour or so in one area while a neighboring city would be sitting under dry, cloudy conditions. 

I have two maps to show you from the NWS.  Here is the forecast for today's high temps. 62 degrees F! That's 8 degrees below normal for this time of the year.  And, look at our mountain ranges; parts of the Cascades and Olympics are below freezing for daytime high temps.  The snow level is above pass elevations so driving will be fine today as in precipitation of the liquid kind; still be cautious though there's low lying fog, pockets of heavy rain, and mist.

After today's dive into the deep end and struggle to reach the low 60s, and tomorrow's mostly cloudy but dry day; we'll gradually return back to the morning clouds and afternoon sun routine starting Monday with temperatures rebounding to the upper 60s.  And right on cue when summer does arrive officially, it unofficially happens in the Northwest by July 5th (I'll blog about why in a couple of days,) models are pointing towards partly to mostly sunny skies.  Seattleites and Portlanders will be comfortably in the mid 70s under the sun.

The Joys of Breakfast

Challah French Toast with Roasted Apricots and Honey-Vanilla Creme Fraiche a fancy name for a fancy breakfast with bacon.  The sun was shining right above us as we all enjoyed this delicious treat outside.  Yes, I love to brag every once in a while. And, guess what... I have the privilege of tasting everything on the blog pastryprose.blogspot.com.

With food aside, the weather in the Northwest; or shall I write, 'up and down the west coast' is still stuck in a lull.  Californians are experiencing morning clouds and afternoon sun... they call it June gloom.  We on the other hand are experiencing mostly cloudy skies, dry, with a few spot showers, and partial clearing in the afternoon sometimes. What would they call that? My best guess would be.. Winter.

 The June 1st post touching upon the the below normal temperatures is holding true with temperatures running a few degrees below our normal of 69 degrees F for the next couple of days.  The bite for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday... a strong push of marine air each day may squeeze out some showers along with cloudy skies, and if the layer isn't too thick we'll see a little sun in the afternoon.

Update 12:45pm
We have some sun in spots and rain in a few locations right now and drizzle or light rain all around Western Washington this morning.  This means two things.  Our air is super moist and with the sun we have the potential of warming up the air near the surface.  These two main ingredients causes instability and rain showers.  Warm air near the ground wants to rise and cool off and when that happens convective clouds form.  With super moist air the cloud is concentrated enough for rain showers to fall. So don't be surprised if you are caught under one.  On a side note the familiar Puget Sound Convergence Zone has a chance of forming North of Seattle this evening. Where ever it drifts it will drop steady rain.

And, winds.. it is a bit breezy outside with winds gusting to 20 mph in the Central and South Puget Sound areas.  This is because of a pressure gradient where the high pressure wants to go to the lower pressure, kind of like river water and a waterfall.  The higher the water the greater the fall to the lower part of the river.  The difference is about 2 hPa higher at the coast than the Puget Sound right now, translating the breezy winds from the southwest (true west winds are rare in the Puget Sound area because of the massive Olympic Mountains.)

Dodgeball!

In a mere 100 minutes dodgeball warriors will take over a Denny Field Court and have at it.  Summer is around the corner and the ubiquitous rain has become a rare event where it falls for minutes instead of days in a row.  Even though the rain will make a no show on the courts today, the sun is being very hesitant.  Clouds are thinning a bit giving us partial clearing for the sun to peek through for the next 4 hours or so, sunset is at 9:07 pm tonight!  Temperatures will be perfect; hovering around the low sixties.  Balls will fly and sweat will ensue... with regards to dodgeball. Have fun.

Stuck in a Lull

I'm kind of a boring person, and people talk about weather when there is nothing else to talk about.... So what does that make of me?  Especially since it's June time in Seattle... a very blah kind of month weatherwise. We are transitioning out of the active spring weather to more of a lull.  Storm systems are weak and high pressure is not in full gear yet.

The influence for the next several days is our neighbor the Pacfic Ocean.  With each morning we get a marine push.  The larger the push, the thicker the clouds, the cooler we are and maybe we can squeeze out some rain.  The lighter the push, the thinner the clouds, more sun in the afternoon leading to a warmer day. So high temperature wise will be bouncing on either side of normal which is 68 degrees f. To me that's borrrrriiinng.

The bites sunbreaks this afternoon to mostly sunny by 8pm, a weak push tomorrow, and a strong push on Friday.

Squeezing Sun Drops

We have areas of clouds and peaks of blue sky so the sun is shining somewhere in Western Washington.  I'll make this short... Mainly dry and if this cloud model pans out we'll squeeze out some more sun later this afternoon with partly to mostly sunny skies. Click on the image below to see you are in the clear.  This is for 5pm today.

Clouds are Back

It's 12:30pm on  Sunday and the clouds are back over half of Washington and all of Oregon.  Lynnwood northward is enjoying blue skies for the time being but look southeast not to the west for clouds to roll in.  Hazy sunshine to mostly cloudy skies is in store for the rest of today coupled with warm temperatures moderating around the low to mid 70s and much cooler near the water.

First Food Post :)

Fridays are days when I am grumpy and sleep super early  My theory behind this is that by the end of the week my body catches up with me, and without school or work the next day my body is permitted to shutdown for some r&r.  I was reluctant to go to happy hour but after winning two games of shuffleboard back to back, a late evening nap, and some convincing by my cousin Kay I slid into my flip flops and was out the door.  First stop was Ivar's Salmon House. They have hh for the big kids from 3pm to close in the lounge and on sunny days on the water.  Great food with great company and a view... however the one hour wait was a little much.  Next stop Joey's on Lake Union.... same problem.  It's Friday evening.... where to go... Palomino! Located in Downtown Seattle parking can be a pain.  They have complementary 2 hour parking after 5pm on weekdays and the restaurant has a spacious lounge for happy hour from 3pm to close.

For food we ordered two pizzas; one pepperoni and one italian sausage and mushroom. The delightful thin crust treats came out hot and not too greasy.  Pep was a little on the salty side but pair it with a beer or cocktail and it is phenomenal.  If you like a little spice to your sausage, which I do, the italian sausage and mushroom was definitely a win.  The draught beer for the both of us was Guinness Stout.

The total for tonight..$22.00 for two beers ($4 each), two pizzas ($6 each) and Seattle tax.  This was my first time here and I would definitely come back to try new menu items.

Sweet Weekend Forecast

Wow. The sunniest, most comfortable weekend forecast since September 2010. A pair of 70 something degrees weather two days back to back and the high temperature for today is near the 70 degree mark making it three days in a row if we do reach that milestone.  We did hit 70 once this year at SeaTac for maybe one or two minutes but this time around we can bask in the 70s.  Man can I keep this up and write 70 in every sentence? Nope. Here is something unbelievable; gmos is forecasting 80 degrees for Sunday! (1pm update) The 12UTC (5am pdt) gmos run is backing down to 79 degrees for Sunday in Seattle, but nam mos another type of mos (I don't think too highly of it because it is better for places without large bodies of water) has Saturday at 80 and Sunday at 83; so there is potential to turn up the heat. If it's too hot in your area, especially in the foothills where offshore winds will push temps in the 80s, head towards the water where they will be nice, cool, and breezy. 

This picture was taken yesterday after walking the shuffleboard champion Alex, to the bus stop.  I do have heartbreaking news for sun fans though.  That picture above of cloudy skies will return soon; the sun will go away as fast as it came so make it a great weekend with friends and family and pollen and bugs and books.

One More Wet Day

Today's bite...one more wet day for some while others squeak by with a mostly cloudy day and chilly day.  High temperatures will struggle towards 60 degrees and may fall short. Bellingham and the North Sound will take first place in who can catch the most rain competition as the model paints those areas with rain showers in the morning lasting into the night.  Seattle will see increasing rain starting around noon with showers lasting until midnight.

Friday is going to be the typical Northwest summer of morning clouds and afternoon sun and temperatures... believe it or not...slightly above the normal of 67 degrees!

This weekend jumps from Friday's typical summer to 'this is why we put up with 9 months of soggy weather' kind of day. GFS Model Output Statistics(GMOS) from the NWS has clear skies and 78 degrees for Saturday and partly cloudy 78 degrees for Sunday. Yesterday's model run had the two days at 80 and 82 degrees so it did back up from the warming a bit. This is a sweet taste of summer.

My friend Nancy and I summed up our summer to be with... hiking trips, recipe testing on the grill, cold beers,... ummm those activities will have to wait until after my studying time.

Ahoy! June Outlook

Today is the start of a new month. So what's the outlook like? Below normal temperatures and above normal precipitation.  "Whine, whine, whine" ... a phrase pulled from the house jargon and bro quotes developed by my lovely roommates with this kind of June.  The bright side; below normal in early May was a high of 52 degrees F and a normal of 62, yes chilly and burr for below normal.  In late June the normal high is 73 degrees; so I can take 66 or 72 because those are below normal and still comfortable! Here is the NWS Climate Prediction Center's June 2011 high temperatures map. Blue indicates below normal, orangy colors above normal, and white is about normal.

Precipitation chances for June are above normal.  The bright side June is the third driest month for the Pacific Northwest.

 

I can't however find a bright side for sunshine hours because usually precip come with clouds. So maybe more sunshine than our cloudy, cool, wet March, April, May works?