Weather Eye: Dry spell ends, but don’t break out raincoat, boots just yet

In every life a little rain must fall and in ours it did in the wee hours of Monday. Vancouver officially recorded 0.04 of an inch; I got 0.07 of an inch in Salmon Creek.

It was enough to end our dry spell at 51 days, which is notable even in our dry season. It was the eighth-longest dry spell at Portland International Airport. A shower moved across Seattle just before midnight Sunday and dropped 0.01 of an inch of rain in the bucket, limiting their dry streak to 48 days. It was minutes away from being 49 days.

The rain was heavier to our north. Snoqualmie measured 0.71 of an inch; Humptulips, at 2,400-feet elevation, 0.81 of an inch; Ocean Shores, 0.25 of an inch; and generally 0.10 of an inch to 0.50 of an inch across much of Puget Sound.

Today we start another dry spell with no rain forecast through the weekend. Highs will warm back into the 80s — maybe 90 if we get east winds. The weekend looks pleasant with highs of 75-80 degrees.

With the passage of the early Monday cold front overnight lows were forecast to dip into the upper 30s in some outlying areas and 40s here in the city. A brief taste of autumn with clear and crisp see-your-breath type of morning.

To round things out this month is Weather Radio Awareness month in Washington state. I can never emphasize enough the importance of having one of these in your household and for your travels. Not only do you get weather information and warnings but the devices are also used for national emergencies as well. For more information go to Washington Military Department.

Patrick Timm is a local weather specialist. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Reach him at Weather Systems.