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In South Sound, October means big changes in weather and daylight. Here’s what’s coming

The sun sets over the Olympic Mountains as seen from Tacoma’s west slope on Saturday, July 13, 2024.
The sun sets over the Olympic Mountains as seen from Tacoma’s west slope on Saturday, July 13, 2024.

A preview of the rainy season played Friday in the Puget Sound region, with more than a half-inch of rain falling in Tacoma. Forecasters say we can expect the weather to undergo big changes over the next 30 days.

By the end of October, the chance for measurable rainfall in Seattle tends to jump from 28 percent to 54 percent, according to the National Weather Service’s Seattle office. The average high temperature drops by 10 degrees to a crisp 56.

And daylight? Say your farewells, we lose more than 90 minutes of it this month.

NWS forecasters said this week that locally, there’s bigger climatological change in October than any other month of the year. It’s a time of transformation, as the leaves turn and fall colors reach their peak.

But while the long and dreary season of gray, wet weather is on the horizon, October is a mixed bag. After the dousing Tacoma got Friday — 0.77 inches of rain in 24 hours — the area can expect a clear and sunny end of the weekend that will extend into Monday, followed by chances of rain Tuesday to Friday next week.

High temperatures over the next week are predicted in the low 60s, with low temperatures hovering around 50 degrees, according to the NWS.

Looking ahead to Oct. 12-18, forecasts suggest temperatures will be above normal across western Washington, and precipitation in the region will be below normal.

Peter Talbot
The News Tribune
Peter Talbot is a criminal justice reporter for The News Tribune. He started with the newspaper in 2021. Before that, he earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism at Indiana University. In college, he worked as an intern at NPR in Washington, D.C. He also interned for the Oregonian and the Tampa Bay Times. Support my work with a digital subscription
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