We’re marching toward the record books.
Seattle is just a few strides away from locking up a dry July for the first time in over 50 years, with no measurable rainfall recorded at Sea-Tac Airport since 0.14 inches fell on June 27. With rain unlikely through Wednesday, this month is primed to become just the third dry July on record at the airport—and the sixth rain-free month for Seattle overall.
Cue the drumroll.
A familiar pattern of morning clouds and afternoon sunshine will dominate the weather for the final days of July, holding temperatures near 80 degrees under continued dry skies. Today—Seattle’s 31st consecutive one without rain—will be the coolest of the bunch, with highs topping out in the mid 70s thanks to the gray start.
Thermometers tick up a few degrees tomorrow and Tuesday after the clouds burn away, with mostly sunny conditions settling in for the afternoon and evening hours. The one fly in the ointment? High clouds drifting by overhead, courtesy of an upper level low wandering offshore.
On Wednesday—the final day of the month—the low nudges close enough to the region to drag up some unstable air from the south, potentially triggering a few thunderstorms over the Cascades. These storms are likely to stay well east of the metro area, though, sparing Seattle the embarrassment of losing out on a dry July at the buzzer. (28 years ago, that’s exactly what happened, when 0.10 inches of rain on the 31st ruined 1985’s chances at a precipitation-free July.)
Assuming the improbable doesn’t occur again, we should cement our place in history at the stroke of midnight on Thursday, with July 2013 joining 1960 and 1958 as the only Julys on record to escape measurable precipitation from start to finish. (Non-measurable precipitation—such as what fell at Sea-Tac earlier this month—doesn’t officially count.)
So much for ’13 being an unlucky one, huh?
