Scientists have confirmed what many suspected about this year’s weather. It was the coldest spring on record for Washington and one of the cloudiest.
The average temperature for April, May and June was lower than any year since 1900, say University of Washington scientists. And the days were more cloudy than all but one year since those records began 60 years ago.
"We were still getting wintertime cloud cover into late June, which is the most remarkable aspect to me," said James Johnstone, a research associate with the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean in the UW College of the Environment.
Cliff Mass, also with UW, says the clouds and temps were caused by a weather pattern that could become typical as North America heats up.
"Under global warming type scenarios, with the general warmth of the continent increasing, what we found is that we actually get more clouds west of the Cascades under global warming during the spring and early summer. It's really interesting," Mass said.
Mass add that the hotter it gets inland, the more we seem to get the sort of pattern that brings cooler air from the ocean into western Washington.
And, even though the clouds have cleared up this week, there are still no really hot days in the local forecast.
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