Cooler than normal temperatures as we head into May, plus a very dry April

 The last month or so has felt quite average in temperatures. But rainfall has hardly been noticed. Most of the month, our "April Showers" were absent, including a 10-day dry stretch between the 10th of April and the 20th. On the 20th, we started out with glorious sunshine and a temperature zoom-up to 74F at Boeing Field, before crashing later in the day when a cold front moved in bringing light rain and heavier winds. April as a whole was dry, notching less than 50% of average rainfall. Finally, the 25th brought much-needed moderate rain all day to the Puget Sound area, only getting as high as the low 50s. What is also quite notable is that sunshine and warmth was much more abundant this April than the last two.

I really like the ACIS map for showing the percentage of normal precipitation, it gives a nice visual of the region we live in. Seattle and the Kitsap Peninsula were quite dry, as well as much of the colmbia basin. A small portion of Eastern Washington, as well as the very West end of the olympics, were above normal, however Orange and Red dominate the map pointing to precipitation deficits in most areas except for central Idaho. The mountains did see decent snow at the end of the month, when cool showery conditions in the lowlands gave way to some snow at higher elevations. 

I would describe this April as generally mild, with little rainfall and reasonable temperatures.

The first week of May will not feel average at all.

Today, tomorrow, and Friday will be decent, going 59F, then 64F, then 65F, until Saturday has a major cooldown with rain all day and highs in the low 50s. These low-mid 50 degree highs are supposed to persist until Thursday the 9th, when finally a significant warmup is likely. But I wouldn't count on a repeat of last year's May, where we soared to 90 mid month and were accompanied with humid air and thunderstorms. This May will be a lot more tame, at least in the first half. Enjoy the *cool* sunny day today. 😎