Meteorological Summer Begins Wednesday: What To Expect In Puget Sound

A wet and chilly Memorial Day weekend put a fitting cap on a historically gloomy May, but things should feel markedly different for the first day of June — though it might not last long.

May, like April and March before it, was among the coolest and wettest on record. According to the National Weather Service, the average temperature for the month landed just under 60 degrees as of Monday, which is more than 6 degrees below normal. An even more illustrative figure: Seattle logged just five hours at or above 70 degrees in May, compared to 80 hours in 2021 and 85 in 2020. Overall, the month ranked among the top 10 coldest Mays and the second-wettest.

While a few places hit 70 on Tuesday, many more in Western Washington should get there Wednesday. The solstice is three weeks out, but June 1 marks the beginning of meteorological summer and is forecast to be the warmest day in quite some time, even if it does not get quite as hot as initially predicted. Partly sunny skies should win out early on, with a slight chance for a few rain showers in the afternoon. Thursday should also make the 70s, but the chances for rain showers increase and will continue through the weekend.

Here is the five-day weather outlook for the Seattle area:

• Wednesday: 72°/57° (Partly sunny/slight chance of showers)
• Thursday: 73°/56° (Chance of showers - 40%)
• Friday: 67°/54° (Showers likely - 60%)
• Saturday: 67°/56° (Chance of showers)
• Sunday: 65°/53° (Chance of showers/thunderstorms)

As La Niña conditions remain stubbornly intact, history suggests June could also run cooler and wetter than usual. NWS Seattle said La Niña has stuck around for June just 16 times since 1950, and 11 of them had below-normal temperatures. Nine had above-average rainfall.

Looking ahead to the rest of the summer, updated climate outlooks are less bullish on the heat in Western Washington, with probabilities now showing equal chances for above or below average temperatures winning out from June through August. On the precipitation front, the odds continue to favor a drier season for the Pacific Northwest.