Strange September

It may well have been the last gasp of summer; but if so, the season certainly ended on a particularly fine note yesterday. Though we are now well past Labor Day, the beach at Madison Park was packed on Saturday as temperatures remained above 80 and people flocked to the shore. It was the 48th consecutive day without rain in Seattle, and should this condition last until Tuesday (an unlikely event), we will have achieved an historic record (see Cliff Mass's weather blog for the details).

Though the beach was lifeguard-less yesterday, that didn't stop plenty of people from wading or swimming in the Lake, where the water temperature was most likely around 70 degrees.

Madison Park, as usual, was a popular summer destination this year for many Seattleites, and it was more than just our beach proved to be attractions:

The kids play area of the park, for example, was busy even on some less-than-sunny days:

And "The Village" saw plenty of activity as well:

Summer doesn't officially end until September 22, so perhaps we still have time to get in some more rays this year. But even if there's not a single fabulous, warm and sunny day ahead, we can be still thankful for our surprisingly long run of days when everything in Madison Park seemed bright and fun.  Happy Summer!