Puget Sound and San Juans in May.

Looking at a week cruise . How is the weather that time of year?

Temps are from the mid-40;s to the mid-60’s. Precipitation is a crap-shoot. Overall May is not considered a wet month in the lowlands but there is a fair amount of vertical mixing that can lead to some over-development and showers. The higher elevations are pretty wet but generally not Puget Sound. Often a mix of showers / clearing / puffy, flat-bottomed cumulus clouds. I like May. Cool evenings and comfortable daytime temps. Don’t make plans based on what the weather looks like in the morning.

Jon
https://3meterswell.blogspot.com

@Chodups said:
Temps are from the mid-40;s to the mid-60’s. Precipitation is a crap-shoot. Overall May is not considered a wet month in the lowlands but there is a fair amount of vertical mixing that can lead to some over-development and showers. The higher elevations are pretty wet but generally not Puget Sound. Often a mix of showers / clearing / puffy, flat-bottomed cumulus clouds. I like May. Cool evenings and comfortable daytime temps. Don’t make plans based on what the weather looks like in the morning.

Jon
https://3meterswell.blogspot.com

Thanks Jon.

I keep a weather diary and I just checked May of this year and it rained on two days; May 2017, 10 days; May 2016, 6 days; May 2015, 5 days. That would be in southwest Washington. Our weather is a bit different than up around the San Juans, but it depends on exactly where you’re talking about. At that time of the year there are local pockets where the weather might be very different than a few miles in one direction, or the other.

I’ve been in the San Juans at times when it seemed there was a dome over the inner San Juans with delightful weather. On the fringe islands it might be somewhat different with low hanging fog.

In any case, paddling inside the inner islands is one thing. Messing about in the straits, or outer islands is a nuther thing. Conditions can change very quickly for the worse at any time of the year.

The southern parts of Puget Sound has some relatively protected areas, but you must be mindful of tides relative to some launch spots. You might launch at high tide and everything is great, but you might have a couple hundred yards of mud to traverse if you return at low tide.

When I said cruise, I was referring to a boat with rooms with a balcony. American Cruise Line.

@string said:
When I said cruise, I was referring to a boat with rooms with a balcony. American Cruise Line.

What length of paddle does that take?

Forget the paddle, where do you launch such a craft? Hopefully the cruise line will be able to offer small boat tours to some of the islands. My favorite is Sucia.

In any case, the weather should be about as good in May as almost any other time and you might be just a little ahead of the summer crowds.

@magooch said:
Forget the paddle, where do you launch such a craft? Hopefully the cruise line will be able to offer small boat tours to some of the islands. My favorite is Sucia.

In any case, the weather should be about as good in May as almost any other time and you might be just a little ahead of the summer crowds.

Thanks!