MYNORTHWEST NEWS

Kiss summer goodbye: Fall is knocking at our door

Sep 21, 2016, 9:16 AM

windstorms...

History proves that Seattle isn't immune to violent winds. (AP)

(AP)

Kiss summer goodbye. Wednesday is the season’s last full day.

According to the National Weather Service’s Kirby Cook, it was a pretty typical summer, and the winter is proving difficult to predict.

“We were pretty close to normal when you look at the trends,” Cook said.

Related: Threat of wildfires growing in the Northwest amid climate change

Though this summer was slightly warmer than typical in the Northwest, that extra heat has been more or less the norm over the past decade.

Though July was one of the coolest in four years, the Puget Sound region had a record-making August. It was the fourth warmest August on record with an average temperature of 68.1 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Weather Service. The warmest August on record was in 1967.

There was also very little rain in August — .17 inches. It rained more than that in one night in September.

There was plenty of heat leading up to summer. Both Bellingham and Olympia had their warmest April days on record.

Seattle weather predictions up in the air

Around June, a cooler, stormier winter was being predicted. That could be changing, according to Cook.

Climate models are showing a bit more of a neutral winter. However, Cooks says things are still up in the air.

“The message is we can expect just about any kind of weather as we go into a neutral year like this,” he said. “We’re just going to have to hang tight to see how it will pan out.”

Fall officially starts Thursday morning. The Autumnal Equinox will occur at 7:21 a.m.

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