Looking For some Dry Weather.... Try Seattle

While some parts of the country have had more rain than they can handle, one city accustomered to rain and overcast skies has been dry.

The gauge at Sea-Tac Airport has gone to the end of August without a drop of rain. And the National Weather Service says if it stays that way through Friday as expected, it'll break the record of .01 inches of precipitation, which has happened just three times in the city since 1891.

The current dry spell could challenge the 51-day record set in 1951. The last rain at the airport was .04 inches on July 22 - marking 40 days and counting.

The dry stretch is just fine for people heading outdoors for Labor Day weekend. The 200,000 people expected to gather by the Space Needle for the annual Bumbershoot Festival, a three-day music and arts fair named after an old-timey word for "umbrella," can expect sunny skies and highs around 70.

"You can't always count on good weather - this is Seattle," said Seattle Center spokeswoman Deborah Daoust. "This weekend the weather forecast is perfect."

Gathering clouds could lower temperatures and bring a chance of showers in some other areas of the state for the last holiday of the summer, but forecasters don't see any Seattle rain storms on the horizon.

Starbucks Opens First Juice Bar

Starbucks Corp opened the first store in its new Evolution Fresh juice bar chain on Monday, its biggest move outside of the coffee realm yet.  

Health drinks are big right now and kudos to Starbucks for trying to put their own spin on the juice bar concept.

The first shop, located in an upscale shopping area in Bellevue, Washington, is an affluent city just east of Seattle, will be watched very closely by Starbucks executives and analysts.

"Mixologists" at the new shop dispense a variety of juices - including apple, coconut water, carrot and beet - from taps to create "hand crafted" concoctions with names like "sweet burn" and "field of greens". The 8-ounce drinks sell for $4.99 and the 16-ounce drinks are priced at $7.99.  A tad bit pricey?

Fresh fruit and vegetable juices have gained in popularity in the United States with some health-conscious consumers using them as meal replacements, while others drink them as part of "cleansing" diets.

The world's biggest coffee chain bought Evolution Fresh for $30 million in cash in November to get a piece of that business.

Seattle: Snow then Ice then Rain

An ice storm closed runways at Seattle's main airport on Thursday and cut power to more than 180,000 people across the Puget Sound region.

Alaska Air Group Inc., the largest carrier at Seattle- Tacoma International Airport, planned to cancel as much as 70 percent of their schedule, President Brad Tilden said in a television interview.

Freezing rain on top of near-record snowfall yes led to ice accumulations that made travel dangerous.
Things are somewhat back to normal in Seattle today.  It's raining.

NFL Wildcard Saturday Play of the Day: Seahawks

I am not crazy, I am not on drugs, but I love the Seahawks in today's NFL action.

The Saints are the better team and will win the game, but the Seahawks are getting 10 pts at home in a playoff game.

I have to say take the Seahawks and the points.  The only trend favoring Seattle is they are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games in January.  You can throw that out since that was a while ago and this is a totally different team.  Sometime you just have to go with your gut and the fact that they are getting 10 pts.

Take Seattle today.