Are you or are you not a true Seattleite? If you are, long ago, you accepted this kind of weather news.
Memorial Day forecast, according to the National Weather Service: “A 50 percent chance of rain between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.”
Just put a lid on the barbecue. You’ll be fine.
As for the rest of the week?
“You could describe it as a rollercoaster,” said Dev McMillian, meteorologist with the weather service in Seattle.
He meant the forecast for Wednesday, when compared to the previous and following days. It’s predicted to reach 86 degrees, with all sunny skies.
“We won’t reach record territory, but it’s well above average,” said McMillian.
The normal high for May 28 is 68 degrees.
Tuesday will be more along typical Seattle days for late May. Mostly sunny, with a high near 71.
Thursday will also be typical. A chance of rain, partly sunny, with a high near 72.
McMillian said the reason high temperatures will jump 15 degrees between Tuesday and Wednesday is “a ridge of high pressure building across the Northwest.”
And that means? “High pressure is typically associated with sinking air in the atmosphere. When air sinks, it tends to warm and compress.”
As for high temperature then dropping 14 degrees between Wednesday and Thursday: “We’ll see a weak cold front, bringing increasing clouds and a chance of precipitation.”
If you’ve read this far, then you’re one of the reasons why out of 122 National Weather Service offices across the country, it is NWS Seattle that has the most X followers, with 211,400.
We like our weather news, so here are a few more Seattle statistics.
The hottest highs on May 28, before Wednesday enters the record books:
92 degrees in 1983.
91 degrees in 1972.
86 degrees in 2017.
All tied at 82 degrees: 1995, 2015 and 2020.
The coolest highs on May 28:
All tied at 53 degrees: 1948, 1989 and 2010.
55 degrees in 2001.
56 degrees 1976.
As McMillian described the Seattle experience in those low days, and for some locals, perhaps lots of days, “Cool and dreary, it was.”
