November Drier Than Normal…Say What?

November 28, 2011 10:00 pm

The last week in November holds the distinction of being the wettest of the year, but aside from yesterday’s rain (.42″) and a few drib drabs on Friday, the rest of the week has been completely dry.

Light rain expected tomorrow night will tack on another .10″ of rain or so, but it won’t be nearly enough to make the Nov. 24-30 period the wettest of the year, nor will it be enough to make November 2011 an average or above-average month in the rain department.

The 30-year average rainfall for November, measured from 1981-2010, is 6.57″. Seattle currently stands at 5.07″of rain, meaning that we’ll likely come up close to an inch and a half shy of what constitutes an average November. Believe it or not, this month will go into the record books as drier than normal! Last week’s rain aside, though, it really has been a dry November–the National Weather Service doesn’t keep sunshine statistics anymore, but I can’t remember a November with more sunny stretches than this one (especially on weekends).

Weather-wise, once tomorrow’s rainfall ends–expect a period of light showers between 5 p.m. and midnight–cool, dry weather will be the rule for the rest of the week, the weekend, and well into next week. It’s even possible that Seattle will go a full week into December before seeing rain–a bit of an oddity in this La Nina winter!

Temperatures for the next week or so will top out in the mid-40s, with overnight lows falling below freezing pretty much everywhere. Low temps will even approach the mid-20s in some of the outlying areas as we head into the latter part of the week. Sunny skies will prevail most of the time, after periods of morning fog, some of which could be particularly dense. Come to think of it, tomorrow itself will start off rather foggy in most areas, before late-morning clearing gives way to clouds and light rain later in the day.

Enjoy the rain–it’ll be the last you see for quite some time!