Happy ‘June’: Unusually warm weather reflective of next month
May 2, 2016, 1:34 PM
Ducks and geese enjoy the warm weather at Green Lake in Seattle. (Richard D. Oxley, MyNorthwest)
(Richard D. Oxley, MyNorthwest)
Those outside temperatures you’ve been enjoying are equal to temps typically seen a month from now.
University of Washington Atmospheric Sciences Professor Cliff Mass wrote Sunday was “June 1st.”
Related: Pacific Ocean’s ‘marine heatwaves’ likely to become more frequent, intense
Of course, Mass knows it is May. The point he is trying to make is that it has, so far, been an “extraordinarily warm spring.” He adds it is likely that the warmth will continue for the next few months.
“Yesterday, I planted my tomato plants in my garden – about a month earlier than normal,” Mass wrote on his blog. “And I’m not worried that they are going to be damaged by the cold. If you are a gardener, today is June 1st.”
Washington has seen temperatures as much as 6 degrees above normal. Mass says this isn’t because of a “constant heat wave,” instead, it is days of “normality interrupted by very warm intervals.”
Mass contributes the warmth, at least in part, to a “weakening” El Nino, as well as high pressure above the Northwest.
April, which Mass considers May in terms of temperature, was a record-breaking month. The National Weather Service reported that Sea-Tac Airport and Quillayute had broken record highs mid-month.
The weather we are experiencing is “highly localized,” Mass writes.
Though it is going to cool mid-week, with rain predicted Wednesday, Mass believes there’s a good chance May and June will be warmer than usual.
