May 2026 Weather In The PNW

[Deweydog]

1 hour ago, TT-SEA said:

Lovely day here.   Would hate to have North Bend weather!

Hah! We'll be in Columbia in a couple days.

[TT-SEA]

Just now, Deweydog said:

Hah! We'll be in Columbia in a couple days.

Hmmmm... I sense a Gamecocks graduation ceremony in your future.

[Deweydog]

1 minute ago, TT-SEA said:

Hmmmm... I sense a Gamecocks graduation ceremony in your future.

Fort Jackson for basic training graduation. 

[TT-SEA]

3 minutes ago, Deweydog said:

Fort Jackson for basic training graduation. 

My son's future sister-in-law is graduating from University of South Carolina on Saturday.    And then moving back to the rainy PNW. 

[MossMan]

First shorts wearing of the year! 

[TT-SEA]

1 minute ago, MossMan said:

First shorts wearing of the year! 

Congrats!  Get those legs some sun!

Up to 75 in NB now.    I am just torturing myself by checking.  

[SilverFallsAndrew]

This isn’t even a wet climate. lol. Mediterranean 

[Doom Buster]

18 minutes ago, Deweydog said:

Fort Jackson for basic training graduation. 

Relaxin' Jackson! At least that's what they called it back when I was in basic at Fort Leonard Wood (Lost in the Woods), MO.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

[BLI snowman]

10 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

This isn’t even a wet climate. lol. Mediterranean 

5 months of endless sun a year just isn't  enough. 

[SeattleSmokeLayerFan]

1 hour ago, TT-SEA said:

Yeah... getting non-stop texts from people there saying how much it sucks today.   Sun and around 70 is about as bad as it gets.  Everyone definitely agrees with you. 

I don't get why a lot of people prefer to roast and sweat with 70s and 80s and clear skies. Me personally, the feeling of the sun hitting your skin and making you sweat is very uncomfortable... but could just be me.

And wanting 90s and 100s is another level of masochistic. I understand not wanting rain and cloudy skies... That's a weird aspect about me personally. Perhaps because I grew up around here and got acclimated to our winters.

However, a day like yesterday with partial clouds, a slight breeze, and minimal convection just feels a lot better even if it's 70-75 degrees or even 80. Slightly tropical in a nice way. 

 

Seems like a uniquely American thing to want to soak up infinite sun and tan so much. 10-15k deaths a year across the country from various sun cancers. In contrast, people from Europe or Asia complain about how hot summer is. In the UK, even 76 is considered a heat wave.

[Deweydog]

59 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

My son's future sister-in-law is graduating from University of South Carolina on Saturday.    And then moving back to the rainy PNW. 

Supposed to rain on graduation day which is Thursday. Might be thundery too.

[Meatyorologist]

19 minutes ago, SeattleMarineLayerFan said:

I don't get why a lot of people prefer to roast and sweat with 70s and 80s and clear skies. Me personally, the feeling of the sun hitting your skin and making you sweat is very uncomfortable... but could just be me.

And wanting 90s and 100s is another level of masochistic. I understand not wanting rain and cloudy skies... That's a weird aspect about me personally. Perhaps because I grew up around here and got acclimated to our winters.

However, a day like yesterday with partial clouds, a slight breeze, and minimal convection just feels a lot better even if it's 70-75 degrees or even 80. Slightly tropical in a nice way. 

 

Seems like a uniquely American thing to want to soak up infinite sun and tan so much. 10-15k deaths a year across the country from various sun cancers. In contrast, people from Europe or Asia complain about how hot summer is. In the UK, even 76 is considered a heat wave.

As I delve deeper into my 20s, I'm finding myself liking the heat more and more. I'd appreciate it in its proper context; i.e. the ~3 or so days a year on average that Seattle is supposed to hit 90F, rather than the endless hot smokefests we've grown accustomed to; but to tell you the truth, the summer sun is just one of those god given things I just can't go the year without. Our climate is so perfect and temperate.

I used to think I could live in a Juneau-esque summer climate, however, while a persistent summer lushness would kick ass compared to brown lawns and a total absence of weather, I just don't think I could deal with almost no heat the entire year. Here in Seattle we can have the mildness and the sun at the same time. It's truly brilliant.

Truth be told, Iowa probably has my absolute most ideal summer climate. Baking hot, sunny, and convectively productive with dynamic weather systems. Plus, it's the wet season, so everything is tropical green. (I am like a tick's exact target demographic istg)

[iFred]

Convection!

[Chewbacca Defense]

A little something popping up just south of Mt Baker

 

 

[TT-SEA]

1 hour ago, BLI snowman said:

5 months of endless sun a year just isn't  enough. 

More like 3 months in western WA.   And even that is far from "endless sun".   We have that for maybe 6 weeks a year.  Its a small part of our climo.  

[TT-SEA]

1 hour ago, SeattleMarineLayerFan said:

I don't get why a lot of people prefer to roast and sweat with 70s and 80s and clear skies. Me personally, the feeling of the sun hitting your skin and making you sweat is very uncomfortable... but could just be me.

And wanting 90s and 100s is another level of masochistic. I understand not wanting rain and cloudy skies... That's a weird aspect about me personally. Perhaps because I grew up around here and got acclimated to our winters.

However, a day like yesterday with partial clouds, a slight breeze, and minimal convection just feels a lot better even if it's 70-75 degrees or even 80. Slightly tropical in a nice way. 

 

Seems like a uniquely American thing to want to soak up infinite sun and tan so much. 10-15k deaths a year across the country from various sun cancers. In contrast, people from Europe or Asia complain about how hot summer is. In the UK, even 76 is considered a heat wave.

70s and low 80s with sun is perfection.   Above 85 it becomes annoying and above 90 even more so... those are days you have to be in or around water to make it enjoyable.   But I still love that we have those days.  It would feel empty without those really warm water days.

[Chewbacca Defense]

Drought ended here this morning, picked up 0.01” from a thin band of showers.

 

My yard is still pretty green because my soil stays wet most of the year from an underground spring, but it’s starting to think about drying out.  Unshaded lawns are starting to brown and people have been busting out their sprinklers this past week.

 

it will rain on May 11th…absolute buckets.  Why?  Because that’s when work starts on replacing my roof!

[Meatyorologist]

1 hour ago, iFred said:

Convection!

That smoke is exactly what I was talking about yesterday.

[Meatyorologist]

There are some pretty tall thunderheads blowing up in the Cascades. I'll try to get a good pic

[Meatyorologist]

[Jbolin]

Some elevated t-storms to our south moving NNW

[SeattleSmokeLayerFan]

45 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

70s and low 80s with sun is perfection.   Above 85 it becomes annoying and above 90 even more so... those are days you have to be in or around water to make it enjoyable.   But I still love that we have those days.  It would feel empty without those really warm water days.

78 here right now. Miserable and sweaty. Can't even go outside. Tomorrow is going to go well above 80. That's approaching terrible territory.

[Meatyorologist]

[SeattleSmokeLayerFan]

At least the conditions are becoming ripe for this summer's smoke layer. 

[Make -PNA Great Again]

2 hours ago, SeattleMarineLayerFan said:

I don't get why a lot of people prefer to roast and sweat with 70s and 80s and clear skies. Me personally, the feeling of the sun hitting your skin and making you sweat is very uncomfortable... but could just be me.

And wanting 90s and 100s is another level of masochistic. I understand not wanting rain and cloudy skies... That's a weird aspect about me personally. Perhaps because I grew up around here and got acclimated to our winters.

However, a day like yesterday with partial clouds, a slight breeze, and minimal convection just feels a lot better even if it's 70-75 degrees or even 80. Slightly tropical in a nice way. 

 

Seems like a uniquely American thing to want to soak up infinite sun and tan so much. 10-15k deaths a year across the country from various sun cancers. In contrast, people from Europe or Asia complain about how hot summer is. In the UK, even 76 is considered a heat wave.

Heat is one of the rarest wx phenomena in our region... I actively root for triple digit temps.

[TT-SEA]

5 minutes ago, Meatyorologist said:

You went outside?? 

I heard you would be melting and turning into liquid if you dare set foot outside right now.   

[SunnyWeatherFan]

Dramatic cumulus cloudscape over the Cascades. Awesome!

[MossMan]

The flurries have begun.

Along with an above average bug carnage count on the windshield for the time of year. 

[Make -PNA Great Again]

I went fishing today on the Gibbon River and then saw some baby fluffy cows and thermal stuff.

 

[TT-SEA]

6 minutes ago, SeattleMarineLayerFan said:

78 here right now. Miserable and sweaty. Can't even go outside. Tomorrow is going to go well above 80. That's approaching terrible territory.

You lose credibility here with this silliness.   Obvious trolling.   No one is this clueless.  One side of your house is shaded right now.    My wife put chairs on the front patio for the times when its too warm to enjoy the back deck.    The front side of our house is shaded all afternoon and evening.    Those really warm summer evenings are some of the best when its perfection in the shade.   We certainly don't sit inside.   That is a crime when the weather is so nice.      

[Meatyorologist]

6 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

You went outside?? 

I heard you would be melting and turning into liquid if you dare set foot outside right now.   

I just saw the back of my tee, I think he's onto something...

[TT-SEA]

6 minutes ago, MossMan said:

The flurries have begun.

Along with an above average bug carnage count on the windshield for the time of year. 

IMG_1095.mov

Cottonwood snow already?   I was thinking that would probably start this weekend.    Its a little early... usually mid May.

[TT-SEA]

13 minutes ago, SeattleMarineLayerFan said:

At least the conditions are becoming ripe for this summer's smoke layer. 

Nah... we will get some random rain events like 2015 and have no smoke layer the entire warm season! 

[Meatyorologist]

17 minutes ago, SeattleMarineLayerFan said:

78 here right now. Miserable and sweaty. Can't even go outside. Tomorrow is going to go well above 80. That's approaching terrible territory.

You need a couple full days out in it to adjust. I've made the mistake of waiting until May or June to start going outside. Our slow, gradual springs are a gift.

[NWbyNW]

Haven't hit 70F here in Everett today, but it feels warm with a nice constant sea breeze.  Keeps things feeling fine.  Next two days are projects to be in the mid 70s.

 

 

 

[NWbyNW]

Some great insight from Felton of the NWS Seattle office the other day.

Seattle's monthly rain total was 2.77 inches just
0.41 inches below the normal of 3.18 inches. Why it might have
seemed like a dry April is because of the number of days it
rained. In Seattle there was only 8 days with measurable rain.
This ties for the third lowest number of April rain days in
Seattle in the 82 years of records at Seattle-Tacoma airport.
The two years with less rain days, 1956 with 5 and 1951 with 3.
There have been 4 years with 8 rain days, 2026, 2021, 2020 and
1998. The normal number of rain days in Seattle in April is 15.

Since the start of the year there has been 55 days with
measurable rain in Seattle. This is the lowest January through
April rain day total since 50 days in 2005. The normal number of
rain days for January through April is 67. 

[NWbyNW]

Interesting cloud formation.  The clouds are forming along the Cascade's. 

[TT-SEA]

8 minutes ago, Meatyorologist said:

You need a couple full days out in it to adjust. I've made the mistake of waiting until May or June to start going outside. Our slow, gradual springs are a gift.

Most years there aren't enough days to even get acclimated through the middle.of May.

[TT-SEA]

7 minutes ago, NWbyNW said:

Some great insight from Felton of the NWS Seattle office the other day.

Seattle's monthly rain total was 2.77 inches just
0.41 inches below the normal of 3.18 inches. Why it might have
seemed like a dry April is because of the number of days it
rained. In Seattle there was only 8 days with measurable rain.
This ties for the third lowest number of April rain days in
Seattle in the 82 years of records at Seattle-Tacoma airport.
The two years with less rain days, 1956 with 5 and 1951 with 3.
There have been 4 years with 8 rain days, 2026, 2021, 2020 and
1998. The normal number of rain days in Seattle in April is 15.

Since the start of the year there has been 55 days with
measurable rain in Seattle. This is the lowest January through
April rain day total since 50 days in 2005. The normal number of
rain days for January through April is 67. 

Good stuff.    It definitely like it was sunnier than normal in April.    I was feeling pretty good about April and May after a very wet and gloomy March and it is certainly working out that way.