The record dry August in Seattle was in 1974, when 0.01 inches of rain fell. If the cloudless skies today hang on for just another few hours, we will have established a new record for rainfall in August. None. It has been 40 days since it rained in Seattle. Just last month, I was marveling at the volume of rain that was falling. Who knew?
There is an answer to the question, What to do when the sun is shining in western Washington?
Get the hell out of the house!
In Seattle, hot means we spray our draw bridges with water to keep their steel decking from expanding and jamming them closed.¹ One hot Saturday, I put some ice water in the tank bag and took the Yamaha to see Mount Rainier via Chinook Pass. I shot the above photo from the seat of the bike while idling at the curb — as point and shoot as it gets. I still cannot get over how gorgeous it was that day.
We reserved a sunny Sunday to hie ourselves to the water and go to sea in a sailboat. It was 85° and windy all day — a confluence of meteorological states on Puget Sound that one hopes for always and is too infrequently rewarded. Once again, a gorgeous day.
Now Labor Day weekend is upon us. Each year during the last long weekend of summer Seattle hosts the Bumbershoot Festival, named as a metaphor of an umbrella for the arts and performers it features — which is kidding no one. Everyone knows it rains all the time in Seattle, and that’s why we have a festival with that name.
The record number of consecutive days without rain in Seattle is 51, which occurred in 1951. Local forecasters are telling us it appears as if we might break that record before this current stretch of rainless days ends. I sure hope I do not run out of things to do outside.