Dry weather is about to become a thing of the past, so grab your umbrella and hold on.
Mother Nature is set to flip a switch, swapping the past 81 days of blue skies, warm weather and only the barest of rain for the more familiar gloom, cloudy days and unrelenting showers.
Expect the change late tonight or Friday morning.
“Looks like summer is coming to an end here,” National Weather Service meteorologist Art Gaebel said Wednesday.
The first of four weather systems is expected to hit by the end of the week, bursting through the ridge of high pressure that has held off precipitation for so long. A second system is expected to follow right behind, bringing harder rain Saturday.
There could be a respite Saturday night, but two more systems move in Sunday and Monday in quick succession.
Forecasters predict that when the storms move on, the region could be water-logged with more than an inch of rain. That’s more rain in four days than the region has seen between July and now.
Temperatures are expected to dip into the low 60s, and nighttime readings are forecast to drop into the high 40s.
That’s quite a change from the 80-degree days that were part of the region’s second-longest dry spell. The 48-day stretch began July 23 and ended Sept. 9, when a mere 0.01 inch of rain fell. The last raindrops were recorded Sept. 28, but it was just a trace.
Drizzle was so rare the past few months that August and September became the driest two-month period (0.03 inch) at Sea-Tac Airport for 65 years. Factor in June and it becomes the second-driest.
stacia.glenn@thenewstribune.com
253-597-8653
blog.thenewstribune.com/crime
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.