Planning a holiday weekend? Here’s what to expect from Whatcom weather
Fall-like weather arrived in Whatcom County even before schools started, and the Labor Day weekend forecast offers a mix of showers and sunny skies.
After a summer that featured two deadly heatwaves and a near-record dry spell, Western Washington is seeing more seasonable late-summer weather, said meteorologist Kirby Cook at the National Weather Service in Seattle.
Meteorological fall began Sept. 1, even though autumn officially begins with the equinox on Sept. 22.
“If you like that sunny, cooler weather, we’re in that mode for sure,” Cook told The Bellingham Herald.
Many Western Washington residents agree, and a poll at the Seattle Weather Blog on Twitter showed that 55.2% of respondents enjoy a Northwest autumn more than any other season.
Here’s how the holiday weekend forecast is shaping up, Cook said:
▪ Partly sunny Friday, Sept. 3
▪ Cloudy with a chance of rain Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 4-5.
▪ Sun on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 6.
Daytime highs will be in the low 70s each day, with overnight lows around 50.
And that pattern could persist for a week or so.
According to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, the next two weeks has a higher chance of above-normal normal temperatures and rainfall.
Long-range forecasts for fall show an equal chance of normal temperatures, with a higher chance of above-normal rainfall.
Normal high temperature for early September is around 70, and the month historically gets about 2 inches of rain at Bellingham International Airport, according to National Weather Service records dating to 1949.
