Fall is here! Are you ready?

The picture here makes me smile, because it was taken only a few weeks ago when the weather was warm and it seemed like summer would never end. The photo is from a TV shoot for "Take Winter By Storm," a joint effort with PSE, King County, the City of Seattle and State Farm insurance to help get people ready for storm season.

The day we took the photo (and shot the TV spots that will begin airing soon) it was about 70 degrees and I was wearing a sheepskin coat and gloves telling people about generator safety for stormy weather. And now stormy weather is here . . . at least will be by tomorrow.

The National Weather Service is predicting gusty weather for Tuesday (especially in the Cascade Foothills) and also some heavy rain later this week as well. Other forecasters such as the UW's Cliff Mass and KOMO's Steve Pool agree. Welcome to the Northwest!

If you haven't gotten ready for storm season, now is clearly the time.