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Beyond the Forecast

August 3 in Seattle

Weather forecasts run out after about two weeks. For any date further out than that, the honest answer isn't a single number — it's the range Seattle actually delivers on this date, and how often.

On August 3, Seattle, WA typically reaches 79°F, but has run anywhere from 71°F to 89°F in eight years out of ten. About 88% of August 3s see no measurable precipitation.

Daytime high79°F
71°F8 years in 10 land in here89°F
Overnight low58°F
54°F8 years in 10 land in here62°F

The odds on August 3

88%
Dry day
No measurable precipitation
7%
90°F or hotter
Daytime high

Odds computed from the last 30 years (19962025).

This date is moving

Highs around August 3 have warmed about 0.5°F per decade since 1970 — roughly 2.8°F across the record. The figures above are shifted along that trend to 2025, so they describe today's climate rather than the average of the last 55 years.

Where this comes from: 840 daily observations from SEATTLE TACOMA AP, covering 19702025. We pool every day within 7 days of August 3 — a single calendar date has only about 55 readings, far too few to place a 10th percentile you'd want to trust.

Why it's not a plain average: A climatology computed straight across 19702025 describes the middle of that period, not today, so as a statement about the present it runs cold. We fit a trend on year and shift each observation to 2025 before taking the range. The probabilities use the last 30 years instead — shifting a temperature along a trend is well defined, shifting “did it rain” is not.

What this is not: Not a forecast. It is what Seattle, WA has actually done on this date, which is the only defensible answer once you're past the two-week horizon where real forecasts stop. Data: NOAA NCEI GHCN-Daily.

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