May was cool, wet and not that spring-like – and that’s pretty much normal for that month, weather forecasters say.
If you’re keeping score, it was the ninth-coolest May since 1945 and nearly in the top 10 for rain.
That’s the nature of late spring in the Northwest, weather guru Cliff Mass said Tuesday, the day after another wet Memorial Day weekend.
And there is “no reason to expect a good June,” said Mass, a University of Washington professor of meteorology.
The National Weather Service is predicting that two storms will hit the Northwest this week.
The first was forecast for Tuesday night and into today. The Puyallup River is predicted to rise to flood stage this afternoon, but flooding isn’t expected. Avalanche danger is expected to increase dramatically.
The bigger storm is expected Friday night, with heavy rain locally and high winds on the coast.
“Northwest weather is not dependable until after July 10,” Mass said. “From July 10 through the end of September, that’s the golden period (for weather) around here.”
Ted Buehner, a meteorologist in the Seattle office of the National Weather Service, said there have been worse Mays but not many.
The average high temperature last month, as measured at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, was 60.8 degrees, he said.
The coolest May was in 1962, when the average high temperature was 57.5 degrees. The average May high temperature is about 68 degrees.
