Friday, August 31, 2012

Soggy Seattle goes on streak of dry weather

(AP) ? Not too many people are complaining in typically-soggy Seattle, but the city is on a surprising run of dry weather.

The gauge at Sea-Tac Airport has gone to the end of August without a drop of rain. And the National Weather Service says if it stays that way through Friday as expected, it'll break the record of .01 inches of precipitation, which has happened just three times since 1891.

The current dry spell could challenge the 51-day record set in 1951. The last rain at the airport was .04 inches on July 22 ? marking 40 days and counting.

Records indicate it's a short-term trend, and there's no more reason for the dry August than there was for the wet June, said weather service meteorologist Allen Kam.

It's just the way things go, he said, "Streaks happen."

The arid stretch is just fine for people heading outdoors for Labor Day weekend. Clouds could lower temperatures and bring a chance of showers in some other areas of the state for the last holiday of the summer, but forecasters don't see any Seattle storms on the horizon.

"It has a decent chance of lasting a bunch into September," Kam said, who is based in Seattle. "We could certainly be sneaking up on the 51."

For the calendar year, precipitation in Seattle is about 5 inches above normal, Kam said.

Rain watchers follow the "water year," which starts Oct. 1. On that calendar, Seattle is just about 1 inch above the average for this time in the year, Kam said.

"That brings it whole heck of a lot closer to normal," he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-08-31-Dry%20Seattle/id-12771db9b50d4d54adb30c6abc2bde6c

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