Next week is looking a lot cloudier and wetter than this week but remember we are talking about *next week*. Weather forecasts lose a lot of detail accuracy beyond 48 hours. By that I mean the details are usually incorrect beyond 48 hours so you have to read the extended forecast with a mind toward generalization. For example if they say there's a chance of a major rain storm 4 days away, it means there will most likely be a major rainstorm somewhere near us between day 3.5 and 4.5 (the same is true of winter storms.)
Right now I would just look at the generalized forecast for next week which says it'll be cloudier and wetter than this week... and that's not saying "awful" because this month (until now) has been abnormally dry. We'll be coming up on high fire danger again if we don't start getting some rainfall.
What SIKSUKR said is true about summertime weather. We get a lot of localized weather in summertime. Not like winter when a storm is big enough to affect everyone all at once. Summertime weather brings a storm in one town while the bordering town has sunny with "rumbles of thunder from somewhere."
Remember, a 50% chance of showers (in summer) usually means literally that showers will be scattered around the area in such a way that 50% of all points in the area get a shower, while the other 50% do not. If there are enough showers to cover 50% of the state, that probably means the rest of the state will be covered by clouds, because "dry" clouds tend to extend outward from rain areas. That picture improves with a 30% chance of showers because if there are only enough showers to cover 30% of the area, the "dry" clouds extending from those showers are probably not going to be able to cover more than another 30% (or so... depends on situation.) Therefore a 30% chance of showers leaves a few locations with no sign of rain at all.
When predicting large-area storm systems (like nor'easters) the percentages take a slightly different meaning. For example, a "60% chance of snow" refers to the historical/statistical probability that the whole system will follow the predicted track. That means the computers and their human interpreters believe there is a 40% chance that the nor'easter will follow a different track. Usually they know what the "plan B" track would be, but they seldom have the time to talk about "plan B." That is when it helps to know your weather, because you can spot the "plan B forecast" and recognize it whenever it starts to happen, while everyone else is screaming that the forecast is wrong.
To encourage you about next week, I will point out that June had a LOT of cloudy, rainy forecasts but most of them were 40% chances or less. We got a lot of rain (over 5 inches) for the month, but it all came from hit-or-miss showers and thunderstorms. There was plenty of sun mixed in, though very few days were sunny from beginning to end. We had our share of storms at the lake in June, but one of my friends in Dover last night told me they've had a lot of storm threats but no direct hits yet. It's all chances and probability -- meteorological Las Vegas.
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