Some of you might be asking yourselves: “What rain??” Others know exactly what I’m talking about, especially one Forecasting Kitsap reader who wrote:

“[In Silverdale] we had a big downpour and I was driving home with the top down because I bought a new rug!” Oops! Hope you and the rug made it home reasonably dry! I was in Port Orchard during a particularly heavy downpour when another Forecasting Kitsap reader commented that in their part of Port Orchard it was dry! This late season rain shower was a perfect example of a typical “rain lottery”, similar to the snow lottery we invest so much in come November 😉

Summer time in the Pacific Northwest is known for its dry spells, and this year was no exception. The last time we saw measurable rainfall in the Kitsap area was on July 20th! But usually when it rains in the summer, it isn’t consistent, long or widespread. In case you’re wishing for another shot at the “rain lottery”, you might just have to wait until…well…a long time. In fact, latest forecasting models are suggesting it could very well be another month before we get any more substantial rain. But more on that later in the week 🙂

In the meantime, there won’t be anymore soaking rugs as a ridge of high pressure–albeit weak–builds offshore. Before we get to that we’re going to have to wring out some left over clouds tomorrow. We’re not looking at anything dramatic, just mostly cloudy skies clearing to partly sunny skies in the afternoon.

Friday and Saturday will feature more of the same, but as the ridge strengthens the temperatures will rise from near 70 tomorrow to the low and mid 70s over the weekend.

Labor Day looks beautiful and skies will clear even more, boosting temps to the mid and upper 70s.

And then there’s the long range forecast. Remember how we talked about a warm start to September a few weeks back? Looks like that could still materialize. Current model projections have us perhaps reaching the 80s by next weekend.

I’m sure students would’ve preferred this weather BEFORE heading back to school, but we’ll take what we can get 😉

Matthew Leach

Forecasting Kitsap

forecastingkitsap@live.com