A few minutes ago, the National Weather Service came out with a “special weather statement,” for the city as well as much of the rest of the region. Nothing dire and dramatic – but it does represent a change: Much-cooler weather is on the way. After tonight, the overnight lows will start dropping into the 30s. So if you haven’t finished your winterizing yet, lulled into semi-complacency by our warm-ish autumn … now’s the time. (And go find that coat!)

While the flood watch in effect for King County is mostly because of rising rivers, there’s now also a “special weather statement” for the entirety of the county – and it says that some areas have seen an inch of rain already today, with up to two more possible before this starts easing tomorrow afternoon. We’ll be keeping watch as always – please let us know if have any storm-related (or other) news to share.

Along Dumar Way, a busy connector between two major eastern West Seattle arterials (Delridge Way and 16th SW), crews from Seattle City Light contractor Kemp West have been out trimming tall, fast-growing cottonwood, alder, and maple trees to get their branches away from power lines – in hopes of reducing the chances that even a minor storm will push branches into the nearby power lines and cause outages. We met with City Light’s Scott Thomsen at the site this afternoon to talk about storm readiness – not just for utilities, but for all of us. As we talked, the trimming crew continued its work:

The ongoing tree-trimming program, Thomsen says, has had a noticeable reduction on the number of outages happening when those smaller storms hit. But in an area with so many trees, there’s really no way to eliminate the possibility of outages in case of a big storm – so you need to be ready. And this year, weather analysts including Cliff Mass say, we may have a “neutral” year instead of El Niño or La Niña, and those years have a higher likelihood of BIG storms. So don’t wait till there’s a forecast of imminent storminess. Be ready with batteries, backup food/water supplies, etc. Check out this checklist from the regional Take Winter By Storm campaign – you’ll hear even more from them on Monday, when they’re briefing the regional media for an official launch.

P.S. A frequent question about the tree-trimming is why the trees tend to look rather, well, stark when the crews are done. Thomsen reminds us that the cutting is done in a manner that not only achieves the goal – get out of the power lines – but also keeps the tree healthy, and the “rectangular” cuts you often see meet that goal. It’s all done by tree crews licensed to work near power lines, and under the supervision of a certified arborist. This year alone, they’ve trimmed along 625 miles in the city.

Thanks to everyone who has shared photos of the rainbow sightings to the north a short time ago – Stacy sent the double rainbow from Seacrest, and we’ll add others shortly. As mentioned in our morning preview, the forecast says thunderstorms with ice pellets are possible. (But een as we write that – some blue sky is headed this way along with more clouds …)

ADDED 3:42 PM: More rainbow photos! (Plus, a final batch added in early evening, from the ones tweeted to us…)Read More

(Click image for larger view)
We showcased one beautiful photo looking west across the water this morning … to bookend the day, here’s one looking east. Thanks to Don Brubeck for taking it while bicycling home from work, and then sharing it. Still some clear sky tonight – we’ve seen stars. Tomorrow, some sun remains in the forecast, before what’s projected to be another series of cloudy/showery days.

West Seattle’s first wind advisory of fall takes effect at 5 pm tonight, according to the National Weather Service, and will remain in effect till 5 tomorrow morning. We could get gusts up to 45 mph tonight, according to the alert. Separate from the alert, the forecast says we might see thunderstorms, too.

(No rain yet! Tonight’s sunset, via Twitter, by @sudsymaggie)
Four warnings today about the rain that seems to be finally heading this way:

First, the National Weather Service has issued a “special weather statement” – see it here.

Second, even though the first bouts of rain are NOT expected to be heavy, it still could cause power outages, says Seattle City Light. They explain why – and what you can do to try to lessen the chances – in this update.

Third, WSDOT warns about a potentially rainy commute tomorrow:

Drivers can do their part to keep traffic moving by following these basic tips for driving in wet weather: leave plenty of following distance between vehicles; focus on driving and not on the cell phone; and check conditions and traffic before leaving. Drivers may also want to add 15 minutes or more to their commute.

Drivers who get into a collision should: move to the right to get out of traffic; stay in the vehicle until help arrives; and never stand or walk into traffic for any reason.

WSDOT crews are planning for the wet commute as well. Incident responders will be out in full force clearing roads and helping drivers along the key commute corridors, including Interstate 5, Interstate 405, State Route 520, Interstate 90, State Route 99 and State Route 16 throughout Seattle, Bellevue, Everett and Tacoma.

Our brand new daily traffic/transit thread (for your updates and ours, starting in the early morning and accessible throughout the day) will track the situation too.

Fourth, award-winning environmental activist Laura “Diver Laura” James has a reminder on behalf of tox-ick.org:

With the rains coming, it is imperative that we do our best to pick up the errant dog poop that is lurking beside the sidewalks on the grassy hills and planting strips. This poop is FULL of badness (such as e. coli and parasites such as Giardia and Roundworms) There are baby seal pups in the waters around our large storm outfalls, its up to US to help protect them!!! Even if its not YOUR dog’s poop, please pick it up! Its a race against time (and rain)!

Additionally, if you are out walking and see small bits of roadside garbage, cigarette butts, bottle caps, pens, candy wrappers, plastic bags, etc… Take a moment to pick it up and get it into a garbage can, otherwise that trash has a one way ticket directly into Puget Sound via the storm drains! Don’t let it add to the Underwater Garbage Patch off Alki Beach!

We’ll of course track the weather, the traffic, and everything related, 24/7 as usual, including our new every-weekday-morning (weekends as needed) “traffic/transit today” open threads with commenters’ reports as well as updates from us.

(Click photo to see larger image – note the Big Dipper!)
10:40 PM: WSB contributing photojournalist Nick Adams got that view of the Northern Lights off Alki a short time ago. We had heard about the Capitol Hill sighting early today – our friends at CapitolHillSeattle.com published photos – then local meteorologist Patrick Kelly tweeted that they were likely visible tonight … and here’s what Nick saw. (Here’s what he used to track it.)

11:56 PM: Went out to see just how visible it was. From Alki’s west end, parallel with 63rd, very faint. Beautiful sky show overall, though, so many stars (and planets) visible. Here’s more info from space.com.

Thanks to Marty Westerman for the beautiful sunset view from Fauntleroy tonight. The National Weather Service says the sunshine will continue through the weekend and into the start of the week – but MAYBE by next weekend, some rain, says tonight’s “forecast discussion“: “By later [next] Friday into Saturday, there is a chance that Western Washington will see some light rain, ending our recent dry streak.”

Thanks to Mike Russell for sharing that view of tonight’s spectacular sunset via Facebook. The forecast once again stretches at least a week without any sign of rain.

So many wonderful photos shared this weekend – thanks again. Here’s one final (we think!) set for the weekend – both of these are by Craig Young. Above, tonight’s moonrise; below, Friday’s sunset (didn’t get a chance to share it till tonight, but it’s certainly representative of what we’ve been enjoying):

Though the National Weather Service forecast envisions some clouds early in the week, there’s no rain predicted – so far – for at least another week.

7:23 AM: Thanks to Don Brubeck for sharing the photo – rainbows to start the day, and a shower!

7:38 AM: Thanks also to everyone else who has sent photos! Jason Axley says he “caught this on my way to the bus”:

This one’s from Kari:

The forecast calls for high clouds, and then another chance of showers tonight.

ADDED 10:03 AM: Click ahead for more photos shared by WSB’ers: Read More

The first two views – yoga on the beach at sunset – are from WSB contributing photojournalist Nick Adams, at Lowman Beach.

Shelly Aaron leads sunset yoga there on Tuesdays, according to Nick.

After sunset, the sky yielded an unusual sight, photographed and shared by Dan E:

Tomorrow’s forecast looks good – possibly some morning fog, then more sunshine.

Did you see the intense color of the sun, and its reflection on the water, just before sunset tonight? WSB contributing photojournalist Nick Adams photographed it from the north Lincoln Park area in a way that revealed a sunspot – same one shown in this image from NASA – if the sunspot’s not visible in our photo on your screen, click the photo to bring it up in a larger size.

(Photos by Nick Adams for WSB)
A shelf-like layer of clouds provided the drama for last night’s autumnal-equinox sunset watch with West Seattle’s NASA Solar System Ambassador Alice Enevoldsen at Solstice Park. WSB contributing photojournalist Nick Adams was there and shows us how it unfolded – ahead:

Read More

Thanks to Barry for the sunset view above, and to Chad for the one below. The spectacular-sunset streak may not last too much longer, if the newest forecast is accurate – it’s predicting a string of cloudy days, starting shortly.

P.S. The National Weather Service offers this observation re: our rainlessness (sorry, the caps are theirs):

THE RECORD FOR THE LEAST NUMBER OF DAYS OF MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION FOR THE AUGUST 1ST TO SEPTEMBER 30TH TIME FRAME FOR SEATTLE IS 4 DAYS SET IN 1974. SO FAR THIS YEAR WE HAVE HAD ONLY 2 DAYS. THE RECORD FOR THE DRIEST AUGUST 1ST TO SEPTEMBER 30TH ON RECORD FOR SEATTLE IS 0.19 INCHES SET IN 1993. CURRENTLY THERE HAS ONLY BEEN 0.02 INCHES OF RAIN SINCE AUGUST 1ST. BOTH OF THESE RECORDS INCLUDE THE FEDERAL BUILDING RECORDS WHICH GO BACK TO 1891.

Lots of informative but photo-less news so far today – so we’re glad this just arrived to save the day! Thanks to Relaena from Sindelar Marketing for sharing her photo of a scene from the east Alki shore. Sunny up here in Upper Fauntleroy now, after a socked-in morning; hope the sun has finally arrived where you are, too!

Night after night, brilliant colors take over the sky before, during, and after the sun’s exit behind the Olympic Mountains. Tonight, Maggie caught the view from a state ferry on the Fauntleroy-Vashon run, and shared the photo via Twitter.

We have all heard that the flip side of the vivid sunsets and sunrises is smoke from fires burning in central and eastern Washington. Here is a view of some of them, courtesy of West Seattle pilot/photographer Long Bach Nguyen:

(Click for larger image)
He says the photograph was taken near Cle Elum.

Thanks to Bill Bacon for sharing a sunset photo tonight (taken at Lincoln Park)! Looks like more full-color sunsets ahead, because the forecast remains rain-free. If you’re looking for storms – look east. A few thousand miles east.

Thanks to JayDee for sharing tonight’s sunset view from Upper Alki. (For beach-level views, check out WSB’ers Debra and April, who have launched the Facebook page Alki Beach Daily Sunsets.) There still isn’t even a hint of rain in the forecast, according to what the National Weather Service is projecting for the next week. Wildlife-care tip: Be sure to keep water in the bird baths, or even set up makeshift ones (past years’ Christmas-tree stands on our back patio have been popular with the birds).

Almost impossible to believe, with this weekend’s sunshine, but the official end of summer is less than a week away, and a change-of-seasons tradition is now officially on the schedule: West Seattle’s NASA Solar System Ambassador Alice Enevoldsen has announced her Fall Equinox Sunset Watch for next Saturday at Solstice Park (behind the tennis courts across Fauntleroy from the north end of Lincoln Park). It’ll be the first sunset of fall, which officially arrives at 7:49 am our time Saturday morning. Alice advises arriving around 6:45 pm. (Here’s our coverage of her summer-solstice sunset event. At right is Cathy Jaramillo‘s photo of her that night, showing where the setting sun should have lined up if it it had been visible that night. Will it be visible next Saturday? Too soon to say!)

Wherever you are, the smoke that’s drifted over from fires to our east is hard to miss – for the reduced visibility and for the breathing difficulty it’s causing for some. Cliff Mass showed satellite views on his website Thursday, and that’s also when West Seattle pilot/photographer Long Bach Nguyen took the photo you see above. No rain in the forecast any time soon, by the way.