Curse you La Niña!

Tonight Showers Lo 47°F

Tuesday Showers Likely Hi 58°F

Tuesday Night Chance Showers Lo 48°F

This just might be a 'complain-about-the-weather" post. We're supposed to be tough up here, with all this rain and the endless gloomy winters. It makes us hardy. We're not that tough though. Gloom, fine. Drizzle, fine. But rain, wind, cold OR "excessive" heat? Freak out time. If it gets below 50 we complain. If it gets above 80 it's a heat wave and local newscasts tell people to to stay inside and drink water. Seriously.

But right now, it's June for hell sakes! Last summer was like this too. It was cold all summer, we rarely had a day above 70. Never above 80. It rained for every boat show, it was cold for every trip outside. Our tomatoes occasionally grew but not really.

According to NOAA:
La Niña is defined as cooler than normal sea-surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific ocean that impact global weather patterns. La Niña conditions may persist for as long as two years.

I guess we're in year two. The wind is blowing so hard right now that some plywood in our exposed attic rafters just blew onto the lawn. (Why exposed rafters? See the "Porch" posts.)

This shot of our back deck was taken April 18, 2008. I think officially this was the latest ever recorded snowfall in Seattle. What's funny is the BBQ and deck chairs are out. Nice. We just got snow in the mountain passes again last night. Apparently we broke another record: Latest ski season closing ever! But who cares, nobody wants to ski past March. Some summer.

Right this second, we're having a weather phenomenon known only to Pacific Northwesterners called a "sunbreak." The sun shines for a brief period of time, usually before the drizzle starts again. In today's case, a 100% chance of overnight showers. I hope the tourists are having fun in the sun! It's going to last about another 10 minutes.