Summer comes to Seattle after 4th of July festivities get rained on. One local climate change prediction made awhile back called for springs to get colder and darker (followed by hotter summers).

Tomato plants much better under plastic in this climate. Last time I grew some I had a nice crop coming on in August, only to have the plants blight off and collapse - well before fall.

I feel ya. I'm bout ready to throw in the towel for this summer. It's super frustrating with one day of warm sunshine and 4 or 5 days of cool/cold rainy days. Last day of school and kids are wearing jackets. Jeez!

If I recall correctly, by this time last year, wasn't it already very warm and sunny, with little rain? Memory says that summer was already upon us...

I show this day last year had a max of 68.9 degress and a low of 57.4

I'm going to sue al gore. he promised us this global warming thing that was going to make seattle zone 10 by 2012 so I went out and bought / started a lot of ultra tropicals to get a head start on everyone.

Now I'm sitting here in the middle of june with my plumeria, cloves, black pepper (piper nigrum), cacao, carob, vanilla orchids, and cinnamon under lights waiting for it to warm up so they can go outside for more than a few hours every semi - nice day.

Right now I'm sort of praying for a LITTLE global warming to set in (but not the 100+ like last summer)

So much dismay and consternation over the unpredictability of PNW weather. the only thing you can count on when it comes to Seattle weather is that you can't count on it!

Build a hoop house or two. Cheap, takes less than an hour, and my tomatoes have been growing happily inside it for weeks. They could stay in there all summer if it never gets very warm outside.

The difference between a Seattle summer and a Seattle winter?

Warm rain or cold rain.

Seattleites don't tan, we rust.

Actually the rainfall here is less than most of the eastern half of the country.

It's obvious the NW has more know-it-all narcissists.

Our tomatoes and peppers in Portland are doing well under plastic sheets so far.

June 15: Coldest day at Airport, records begin 1940.
Wettest June ever.

Downtown: Wettest June since 1888; 122-year span.

Today was colder at the house than yesterday.

A lot of plants seem to be loving it.

I've been able to propagate cuttings by just leaving them out in the shady mist!

snap peas HAPPY. artichokes HAPPY. lawn VERY VERY HAPPY.

slugs... HAPPIEST OF ALL.

The plants love the rain, and so do I. Last year this time I was spending a couple of hours every morning schlepping water out to all the thirsty young plants. This year the rain is doing the work for me, and my back is very grateful. If only the weeds didn't grow so darn fast!

If you check out the NOAA precipitation analysis site, we're just starting to get to where we should be for year-to-date rainfall in a lot of the Puget Sound area, and some places are still below where they should be for this date. It was a below-average winter and early spring for rain, so I'm happy for some extra water to catch up. The new shrubs and trees are getting a good chance to get established. The best sprinkler system in the world can't do for the yard what rain does.

It's 3 days till summer and i can see my breath at 11:30. Ridiculous!

We should blame SLUGS, they learned how to ask for rain.
They are so happy these days enjoying fast growing greens (these are happy with rain as well) in my backyard.

We are just wasting the longest days of the year to this weather.
16+ hours of daylight (can't say sunlight) should be wonderful- long twilights lost to the clouds..........sighhhhhhhhh

I have a strict policy about not complaining about weather. Nevertheless, I do have this to say: Hmpt.

Come on, yesterday was lovely. Don't you like being bundled up?

It didn't even get daylight yesterday, did it?

Longest day of the year and yet it was the darkest day of the year!

It's certainly an interesting weather pattern. On S. Vancouver Island, we have been at the edge of the rain/cloud mess that is plaguing Washington so we have been getting a little more sun and not much rain. My son lives 100 miles north on the island, and he has been getting lots of sunshine. Surely we will get summer here soon! And, btw, I'm fed up with all of the wind -- it's been darned COLD.

Tell me about it. I'm in Olympia and the weather is driving me crazy.

Anyone remember the sunmer of 1986 I remember watching the 4th of July fireworks from the top of Queen Anne bundled in winter clothing, then going home after the fireworks and lighting a fire (in the fireplace) LOL

Oh no, it's never been like this here before.

Ever.

My tomatoes grew wonderfully under my tent until I decided it was nice and warm out, and they were getting too tall, both things that were true at the time. That was like 3 weeks ago. Little did I know what June had in store for us... now I've got some tomatoes growing on the vines, but the plants are like 4 ft tall and healthy but with almost no fruit set in the bottom two feet. I wish I had planted Siletz again like last year, those things feel no pain.

Cucumbers: didn't plant them out for weeks because it was too cold outside. Grew some indoors, waited and waited because it just wouldn't get warmer, finally planted them out last weekend. I go back to the garden today, and one of them is totally dead (either fungus or a slug killed it at the base) the others looks pathetic. Cucumbers hate being transplanted. At least the new leaves seem healthy... but it's the middle of JUNE for crying out loud. I'll probably get one or two pickings of cukes before the vines die off.

At least I know now it wasn't my fault, but the weather's. How the h3ll was I supposed to beat this??

All I've got that is doing really well is bunching onions and snow peas.

38 degrees here this morning. Did anyone have........................ frost?

Did you have a chance to enjoy hot weather?

This being post 4th-of-July July, 10 day outlook calls for sunny and dry. Think you'll be able to stand it?