Our Wacky April Weather

The weather in Seattle has gone through quite the gamut this month. On Saturday, April 12 the high temperature was 79 degrees fahrenheit! That was a record breaker for the date here. We all felt it was summer and many people ran to the store for warm weather annuals and spent the weekend planting in their yards.

Then came Friday, April 18th. A few days before the weather forecasters had said we could get snow, but few people wanted to believe it. This time they were right! Sure enough, in the late afternoon of the 18th the snow started to fall and people scurried home in it. Those who had put in new flowers started looking for something to cover the tender plants.

I grabbed my camera and turned on the date stamp functionality. I figured if I see these photos years later I might not believe how late it was in the year without the date stamp for proof. I went for a short walk and took a few pictures.



After my walk Walter and I went out to dinner in Shoreline. We were not in the restaurant too long, but when we came out the car was covered in snow. Good thing I still had my snow brush in the back seat!

We needed to stop at the grocery store for a few things. The snow was coming down hard and fast now. We were only in the store 10-15 minutes but when we came back out the car was covered again! And this time the wind was blowing it sideways. I once again wielded my snow brush and we headed home before it could get too deep.

It's a good thing I took these pictures when I did because the next morning the snow was all gone - or at least it was in my neighborhood. People to the north in Everett, to the east in the foothills, and to the south in Olympia and Centralia got even more snow the next day. Some up to 5 or 6 inches! But it left quickly.

Before this year the latest we had received snowfall at SeaTac (our official snowfall measuring place) was April 17. We had surpassed two records in the space of less than a week - for opposite types of weather no less.

This last weekend (26th and 27th) it was warm and sunny again with temperatures in the upper 60's. Today we had everything from warm sun to cold and hail.

I actually love having some variety in the weather, especially if it's not so extreme as to cause hardship. It's kind of interesting and the surprise makes me laugh. But I sure hear a lot of people complaining that they don't know how to dress. The answer? Layers!! And don't put away those winter woolens until May 1. :)