Rain and cool temperatures returned to western Washington this week for the first time since April.
After falling in substantial amounts in April, the rain suddenly shut off when the calendar turned to May in the Pacific Northwest. Temperatures suddenly jumped up too with multiple 90-degree days recorded by the middle of May.
The usual rains of May and early June never materialized. It was as if summer had started two months early. Despite cooler temperatures in part of July, the dry spell continued. Even when rain was in the forecast, we hardly received more than a misting. Eventually, the summer weather reached nearly five months before real rain returned on September 23.
Together with the nearly four months of heat and dry conditions that stretched from July 2022 to late October of last year, this year's five-month summer meant that eight and a half of the last 15 months in western Washington have felt like summer conditions.
How much longer can summers like this go on?
