August 31, 11 PM
A stormy day here in western Washington today. It has rained pretty much all day and so far totaled .81" and it has been in the 50's all day as well - a high of 58. A breezy wind, with a high of 20 mph, but it has stayed in the teens a lot of the time all day through this evening. A pretty potent system for this time of year. Fall is really rolling in with a stout announcement.
August 31, 10 AM
A true northwest morning today - socked in with steady rain, too-cool for August (is it still August?),and breezy. Currently at nearly 10 AM we are still at 52 degrees, have received .30" rain since it began around dawn, and can't see far out the windows, between the very low dense clouds and steady rain blurring the air and windows. Into this soup my daughter took off about an hour and a half ago, heading for India! A big adventure for her and the end of summer for us here at home.
August 28, 9:40 PM
This afternoon I decided to "officially" call ourselves to be now into Early Fall. Even though the sun did come out this afternoon and it was quite pleasant, and in spite of a couple previous days having little or no sun, and even some light rain, for some reason this afternoon for the first time really struck me as feeling like fall is beginning to settle in. The temperatures are starting to reflect this a little bit too. The high today was just 72, even with a mostly sunny afternoon,(but it remained in the 50's for much of the morning under a cloudy sky) and the low this mornng was 47, our lowest so far. There was a little chill in the air outside early this morning - a definite change from "summer mornings".
But, as we contemplate the end of summer here in the Pacific Northwest, we are at the same time preparing to send our daughter to southern India in three more days. What a change she will be in for! Hot and steamy will sum it up! Heat indexes well over 100 degrees and such high humidity! It is hard to imagine as I sit here this evening, after a nearly sight-unseen summer for us (with a few exceptions - our summer of Big Swings)and look toward the next season approaching.
August 26, 9:45 PM
Big Change today! It was a little later coming than expected, but once the clouds started rolling in, they came fast. Sunrise this morning was a bright blue and warm sky, but by midmorning clouds were coming in rather quickly and soon light rain began. The temperature fell dramatically and the rest of the day was in the upper 50's for the most part, with a low ceiling and off and on light rain. It only totaled .07" for us (much more just a little north of us) so not a soaker but a nice little rainy August day.
After the last few days of high 80's and sun (high of 89 yesterday) this was quite a adjustment. We had better get used to it, since this pattern is set to remain over the weekend and continued well below normal temperatures.
August 24, 10 PM
Enjoy Wednesday's sunshine and warmth!
A really nice day today - clear sunshine and oh, so warm! As predicted, we did warm up dramatically since I last wrote - up to 86 today! It was a wonderful day to just be outside and think summertime thoughts.
BUT, it isn't going to last, and now we are looking at another very dramatic downward swing, beginning with the first signs as early as maybe tomorrow afternoon. Wednesday should warm up and be a very nice day again - probably into the 80's - but the thermal trough that has been over western Washington will be moving east of the Cascades by tomorrow afternoon, and the flow will reverse. From offshore (thus our warmth), to onshore and the westerly pressure gradients will be ramping up by Wednesday evening to push a lot of cooler marine air over the area. We will be much cooler by tomorrow evening and by Thursday it will be a very different weather scenario. In fact, a deep-for-late-August upper trough will arrive by Thursday and there is a decent chance of showers and temperatures running 25 or so degrees cooler than today and maybe the high for tomorrow too. This pattern will stick around for a few days at least. Summer as we love it is on its way out for now and as each day passes, the chances for a grand return narrow.
August 22, 5:00 pm
The seasonal weather pattern seems to be beginning to undergo a small shift for the Northwest. The high heat we experienced early last week abruptly broke (they always do around here) and the weather has been "different" ever since. The onset of typical summer marine layer away from the brighter and hotter sunny days signaled the change in a big way, but there are other signs too. The clouds are holding the temperatures down, but it does still want to pop up if the sun does make it out from behind the clouds. The last few days have been running in the middle 70's for highs, but it usually occurs in the middle to late afternoon. The lows are beginning to take a dip we aren't as accustomed to for many weeks - two nights ago the low sagged down into the 40's for the first time in a long time (low of 48).
And, rain is creeping back onto the scene - drifting in on cat's paws. Over the past very few days we have had some light rain in short episodes, barely perceptible and not even registering measurement, but now overnight last night and this morning, a bit stronger trough moved through, so far dropping .06" rain. Not much by anyone's standards, but it feels like a start. The clouds have lingered all day, with some sunbreaks, only allowing a high of 74, however mainly in the 60's today. This is not some kind of summer shower rain, but the clouds and sky have a more quietly somber look that portends more of the same will be following before too much time passes.
Even so, we are expected to rebound some over the next three days as high pressure again rebuilds, bringing warmer and sunnier days - could reach the 80's again by Tuesday/Wednesday, so all is not lost, or changed forever. But, in my opinion, the subtle early shift of seasons is underway, and is further evidenced by the forecast for the end of the coming week showing much cooler again, showers possible over several days as a stronger upper trough approaches, and we will again swing to below normal temperatures.
August 22
Sunrise: 6:13 AM --- Sunset: 8:08 PM (PDT)
(losing 3 min, 13 seconds tomorrow)
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Updated: 6:17 AM GMT on September 01, 2010
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