Springtime in Paris, Suckytime in Puget Sound

198.

Yup, 198 freakin’ days it’s been since the temp last hit 70 in western Washington (including Puget Sound).

One-nine-eight days. That’s pushin’ 6-1/2 months.

The weather’s made headline news of late for two simple yet brilliant reasons: (1) the sun has shined for three consecutive days and (2) the temps finally stretched into the 60s.

Reminder: We’re one month away from summer and we’re running gray and cold and in the 50s, about 10 degrees below the norm, for one of the longest stretches of non-spring weather known to western Washington.

Apparently you gotta go to Paris for springtime after all.

Temps today teased the 70-degree mark. Alas, it was not to be here in Tacoma; reportedly,  however, the mercury did tap 70 in some outlying areas. Lucky dogs.

We’ve been instructed not to get our hopes up. This spell of sunshine and warmer temps is short-lived.

Indeed, already the clouds have moved back in, ending a perfectly gorgeous Friday that brought folks out in droves.

People were in good moods, out of their jackets, in T-shirts, slacks or shorts. They drove about with car windows down and smiled while passing on the sidewalk. If you think weather doesn’t affect moods, you’re dead wrong. There’s an Uplift that occurs when the sun’s out and the temps allow the jackets and sweaters to be left at home.

It’s all over now, baby blue. Already temps are descending by the forecast 10 degrees. A thick shroud of gray buries the warm blue skies of earlier and we’re back to overcast and showers for another indefinite stretch.

November 3, 2010. A freakish day when it was last 70 degrees.

198 days ago. Make that 199 here in town.

I’ll take this occasion to begin a countdown of my own. Approximately 39 days left of this crappy depressing gray cold damp climate.

And with God as my witness, I will never be hungry for sun again.

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