How often does it rain over the Memorial Day weekend?

It's a three-day weekend, with rain at the end.

A little bit ironic, don't ya think?

Actually, it's really just a coincidence. And, according to data from the National Weather Service, a fairly common one.

More often than not, Seattle sees some sort of precipitation over the long Memorial Day weekend, and this year is no exception.

Despite the relatively warm and balmy weekend, a small storm front is moving into the region, bringing with it some cooler and wetter weather, said meteorologist Samantha Borth.

Expect temperatures in the low to mid-60s on Monday, Borth said. And a rain band moving through Seattle in the morning, with showers throughout the rest of the day. Likely just a light spring sprinkling, though. Somewhere between 1/100th to 1/10th of an inch, she said.

That's a bit of a downshift from the sunshine and low 70s weather on Sunday.

And it raises the question: Just how often does rain fall in Seattle during these long Memorial Day weekends?

This is the time of year when Seattle starts to dry out. Even though the city sits on the cusp of summer, rainfall (or at least a light misting) is common in late May.

Borth pored over data from the last 55 years, tracking precipitation over Memorial Day.

For 37 of those years, the long weekend had at least some measurable rainfall, Borth said.

That's 16 years with one measurable day of precipitation, 15 years with two days of precipitation and six years when it rained each of the long weekend's three days, Borth said.

So around 67% of the time, Seattle can expect at least a few raindrops over the holiday.

But for 18 of those years, the city saw no measurable precipitation, Borth said.

Generally, though, Washington is becoming warmer like the rest of the planet, and, in the summer, drier. The city already broke at least one heat record this month, albeit a weak one.

Climate change means more of the state's winter precipitation falls as rain rather than snow. This rain can't all be captured by the state's scattered and relatively small reservoirs. The hotter climate also means that whatever snowpack does accumulate - and this year's fell well short of normal - melts earlier.

All this combines to mean summers in the Pacific Northwest are effectively starting earlier and with less water reserves to span the dry season. Washington's cities, farms, ranches, fish, animals and plants can expect to have less water at a time when it's needed the most.

State officials declared an unprecedented fourth drought emergency in a row last month, and already some farmers in the Yakima River basin are shutting off their irrigation faucets as a way to conserve the resource.

Suffice it to say, even if it means rain on Memorial Day, Washington needs the moisture.

The thin showers can be expected to continue falling until Tuesday, Borth said.

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