After a long cold winter and spring, we are only a few hours away from the official beginning of summer.  The summer solstice occurs at 4:09 this afternoon, ushering in the longest day of the year.  The 16 hours of daylight we see today will be dominated by sunshine with temperatures soaring into the 70s. 

During our morning newscast, Chopper 7 caught a spectacular sight.  No, that is not Mount Rainer, it’s Mount St. Helens (I know, the crater is kind of a giveaway).  With the volcano nearly 100 miles away from Seattle, that is impressive visibility.  Sure we have the sun out, but the winds are blowing offshore… from the land out to sea.  That easterly wind helps clear out the haze and bring gorgeous views around the area.  This is the type of day I can see the Chamber of Commerce using for picture taking! 

High pressure is in control of our weather right now, bringing the sunny warm start to the season.  This will remain in place again on Thursday with temperatures soaring into the mid to upper 70s.  A few neighborhoods, especially around the south sound, will make a run at 80 degrees. 

On the satellite image you can see a trough of low pressure sitting over the Gulf of Alaska.  That is where the colder air is bottled up… it will be moving back in on Friday.  Friday and Saturday bring showers back into the area with temperatures falling into the mid 60s.  Sunday is looking like the drier day for your weekend plans with some more sun coming out during the afternoon. 

Cool and wet June so far

 You have probably noticed, temperatures have been down and rainfall has been up this month.  The average temperature over the first 19 days this month is 57.2°; that is 2.8° below normal.  We have also surpassed our average monthly rainfall.  So far 1.85” of rainfall is in the bucket at Sea-Tac… well above the average 1.57” of rain we usually see during the entire month.  Most of the rain we experienced this month fell during the first week of June.

Despite showers returning this weekend, next week is looking much drier at this point.  Showers stay away for most of the week with temperatures hovering in the 70s. 

Have a great day… enjoy the sun! 

-Sam Argier, KIRO 7 Morning Meteorologist