Is summer over in Western Washington? Nope, a bit more is coming this week

Is summer over? Many were asking that question during this past week of cool soggy August weather in Western Washington.

The good news is summer is not over, but there will be one more blip in the upcoming return to summer weather. Another weakening Pacific weather system was on track to move ashore Monday night bringing some additional showers with highs Tuesday only in the 60s, after rising into the 70s Monday.

How would you describe this past week’s weather? You can choose your answer in the poll below.

Higher pressure aloft is then forecast to build over the Pacific Northwest with surface winds turning more offshore toward the Pacific Ocean, meaning a big return of sunshine and warming temperatures. Highs in the western interior will rebound into the 70s Wednesday and Thursday, rising into the mid-70s to mid-80s Friday and into the upcoming Labor Day weekend.

Recent summer storm: More than 3,300 lightning strikes hit across Puget Sound

After a week or so of nature’s irrigation, many will applaud the return of summer-like weather, particularly for the final holiday weekend of the summer.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac Airport) averages 26 days of 80 degrees or warmer high temperatures each year. The count at this point in the year is, 26 days. The latter part of this week has a good potential of adding to the 80-degree days count.

The latest weather outlook moving into the first week of September and the start of many school years continues the likelihood of warmer than average temperatures. The average high temperature for many western interior locations are in the lower to mid-70s moving into early September. A few more 80- degree days may be in store as the calendar rolls over to next month.

Looking back more at the recent wet weather

Going back to this past week’s cool wet weather, some places in the north central Cascades received close to five inches of rain. Many locations in the western interior had over 1 1/2 inches of rain fall as well. That amount of rain had not fallen since the period between May 21 and June 4.

The good news? The recent rainfall has put a significant damper on the threat of wildfires in Western Washington, and the need to water gardens and yards has been paused. Unfortunately, those kinds of rain amounts did not make it across the Cascades. Though, some locations did receive up to a half inch of rain, greatly assisting firefighting efforts.

But the not-so good news? Many outdoor activities and events were canceled or moved indoors, and several weekend roadwork projects were postponed.

MyNorthwest Weather: Covering everything from snowstorms to heat waves in the Puget Sound region

The latest weekly drought monitor valid on Aug. 20 still shows abnormally or moderate drought conditions across the state. The next updated edition coming later this week will likely reflect this past week’ damp weather, particularly for the Cascades westward.

Yes, the sun is setting earlier

Also, have you noticed it is getting darker earlier? Not to be somber, but Monday night saw Seattle last 8 p.m. sunset of the year.

Here is the survey:

Ted Buehner is the KIRO Newsradio meteorologist. You can read more of Ted’s stories here and follow him on X.