Morning low cloud and afternoon sun regimes were much more common when I was young than they are now. That is largely responsible for how much cooler the summers were. Summer has always been very dry here. I know July 2011 had a lot of that. It all comes down to the Pacific High being more dominant in our region than the 4CH. That equates to a lot more onshore flow. The very best is when the Pacific High causes NW wind onshore flow which can feature pretty much wall to wall sunshine with pleasant temps.

I always really dug Peter Gammons.

Lol you say that now...but I remember you (and your wife) not being happy with all those cloudy mornings/early afternoons that summer. It was definitely much cloudier than normal for Seattle summers.

He also has way too much faith in models. We have no idea how Mother Nature may readjust to compensate for changes in global temperatures. It's just way too complicated.

I actually ran the entire satellite loop for the summer of 2010 and did so again recently. There really weren't that many totally cloudy days from June through early September. There were many days with marine layer through the morning and sunny in the afternoon. Not sure how that was calculated but the satellite loop tells me it wasn't that bad. Sounds like coast barely ever saw sun and almost every morning was cloudy in Seattle but there was afternoon sun. Saw this from Cliff: August 11, 2010 Finally...Extended Sun and Warmth There have been a lot of complaints about the weather lately. Sure, there has been practically no sun along the coast. Yes, Seattle has had a record-breaking stretch of morning clouds. Sure, most days have not come close to the normal afternoon highs.