Cooler Days Likely To Linger Into Early June: Puget Sound Forecast

SEATTLE — This year's cooler spring season may make it near the finish line before things warm up too much, with forecasters and climatologists seeing below-average temperatures lingering through at least early June.

The latest seasonal outlooks are in line with early indications that May would run cool, much as April did, landing among the coldest in recent decades. As Western Washington nears the halfway point of the month, that has proven correct, and Seattle even surpassed its average rainfall total for May in just the first week.

Looking ahead, the National Weather Service says Washingtonians can expect more of the same, with probabilities favoring similar conditions that have been in place for most of the season, with afternoon temperatures alternating between the 50s and 60s.

After some sunshine Wednesday, in the near term the National Weather Service sees rain returning by Thursday before a short break for part of Friday. More wet weather is on tap for the weekend, including a shot for thunderstorms Sunday. Forecasters said the odds favor the same general trend persisting into late May, with temperatures running below average and a good chance for wetter than usual conditions.

The weather could improve a little bit heading toward Memorial Day, but the National Weather Service said the probabilities remain "slightly tilted towards cooler and wetter than average conditions" between May 21 and June 3.

By contrast, Summer is likely to be another story, with long-range forecasts from the Climate Prediction Center favoring above-average temperatures for Puget Sound and nearly all of the United States between June and August, amid below-average rainfall.

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