Today could be the warmest day of the rest of the month.
Mid-May warmth is pretty typical around here. But so is the cool-down period at the end of May.
And yes, precipitation will return.
Let’s start with the Europe Center’s latest 10-day forecast for Seattle (below). Today the high is 73F, but then the temperature slides into the 60s and then the 50s. My tomatoes will not be happy.
The NOAA/NWS National Mixed Model (NBM), which combines multiple forecast models and is usually quite accurate, also keeps things interesting, with highs in the lower 60s.
You will need your sweater again.
And what about rainfall?
Let’s look at the latest forecasts of the European Central Model. Forecasted rainfall accumulation through Friday morning shows that rainfall is gradually decreasing in the region, with the North Cascades getting wet.
But it’s not over here. By next Saturday morning (May 25), the entire mountainous area in the area will have relatively heavy rain accumulation. Good for river water levels and fish.
The UW model has a similar solution.
This cool/wet period will be very positive for crops in the area. By the way, it looks like the Northwest cherry crop is doing very well (I love cherries).
So why are we cooling off? Because the high pressure band that brings warmth to our coast will quickly weaken, replaced by a trough of lower pressure.
Consider the next five-day average for the upper altitude (500 hPa, about 18,000 ft) (as pressure) shown below. Blue indicates below normal height (called roughing).
Depressions (low pressure) dominate the area, with troughs (high pressure) offshore. Its Are not a warm model for the Northwest region.
The next five days? Even cooler, with the trough pushing west across the Northwest coast. Expect cooler and wetter than normal conditions.
You won’t need any AC this month.
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Massive vandalism around UW
I’ll talk about it in more detail in my next blog, but there have been major (and very expensive) incidents of vandalism around the UW, including the spray painting of both historic and new buildings (see under).
This is what happens when university administrators allow lawbreaking and vandalism to spread.
Anti-Semitism, physical violence, property destruction and illegal camping are common problems around the UW. UW authorities should have shut down the illegal encampment weeks ago. When illegal behavior is tolerated without consequences, it simply increases.
A sad time for all Huskies. We are going the way of Columbia and UCLA and it could have been avoided.
