Weather Eye: Weather rarely gets any better than Monday’s

At 4 p.m. Monday, I recorded the first 80 degree day here in Salmon Creek. Other temperatures around the local area were also at or near the 80 degree mark. Wow, it just doesn’t get any better than that, does it?

Skies were hazy all weekend and again on Monday from what NASA tells us — smoke and maybe a little dust from wildfires in Siberia. That happened last year, if I recall. It kind of diffuses the clear blue skies but makes for some really beautiful sunsets with all the particles in the air.

We do switch around to an onshore flow of air this week, spurring more morning clouds and afternoon sunshine. A weak weather system tries to make a dent in our high pressure but the chance of showers remains low. The coast and mountains will be more prone to drizzle or showers. The weekend looks wet, however.

The warm days have helped us bring up the average mean temperature, which is running just 1.2 degrees below average for the month. Rainfall continues to run behind at more than half an inch below normal.

Cooler and moist air is forecast to be present this week and longer-range computer forecast models hint that next week will be cooler and wetter yet. We’ll see — there’s still plenty of time for things to take a more positive turn.

There appears to be a rare drought possibility here in Western Washington, according to the National Weather Service. Although here in the low-lying areas, we have received near-normal rainfall this winter and spring, little snowpack is present. This will affect river flows this summer. According to the National Climate Prediction Center, they are expecting drier and warmer conditions between now and September. Not much relief. We will be hearing about this more in the future.

Meanwhile, enjoy the week’s weather — it won’t be as dark and gloomy as we thought last week.

Patrick Timm is a local weather specialist. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Reach him at http://patricktimm.com