Just another measly .14 inches, and this year will be Seattle’s wettest since 2006.
A slow-moving cold front stalled over Puget Sound this morning, dousing Seattle with another half-inch of rain before finally heading into the mountains. The soggy weather boosted the year-to-date precipitation total at the airport to 46.86 inches—nearly equal to the 46.99 inches that soaked the city in 2010. With more rain in the forecast, not to mention 10 days left in the year, we’ll top 2010’s mark shortly, making this year the dampest of the past six.
In addition, 2012 will become only the second year since 1997 to measure upwards of 47 inches of precipitation—2006, propelled by a 15-inch November, recorded 48.82. Not surprisingly, the heavy rains of the past few months have had plenty to do with this year’s saturated status—November was nearly 2 inches wetter than normal, and October was Seattle’s fifth-wettest on record. Earlier in the year, we also saw nearly double the average rainfall amount in March, as well as a persistently soggy June—both of which held our annual precipitation above normal when a record-breaking stretch of dry weather arrived in late July.
December too has fallen on the waterlogged side, with today’s rains officially pushing the monthly precipitation above average. Through this evening, we’ve recorded 5.45 inches on the month—compared to the usual 5.35 inches that falls from the 1st to the 31st. Even more, it’s rained on 19 of 20 December days, with only the 8th dodging the raindrops from start to finish.
As we move into the long holiday weekend, we’ll attempt to break out of our recent soggy trend, with much lighter amounts of rainfall expected tomorrow through Monday. A upper level low, parked in the eastern Pacific, will still continue to send occasional bands of showers our way—but they won’t add up to much. Current models predict no more than a quarter-inch of rain per day through Christmas Eve, with high temperatures holding steady in the mid 40s. For Seattle, the wettest of the next four days should actually be tomorrow—with the potential for just enough rain to carry the yearly total to the 47-inch mark.
Breaks in the overcast—sunshine, for those of you who’ve forgotten—will also be possible through Tuesday, helping to brighten things up a bit during our shortest days of the year. However, by late Tuesday, most weather models bring yet another moisture-laden system to our doorstep, with widespread precipitation returning on Christmas Day.
Guess it was too much to assume that the big rains would take the holiday off?
What was Seattle’s wettest year? How close are we to breaking the annual record?
Hi John,
The wettest year at Sea-Tac was 1950, with 55.14 inches of rain. We’d need to get more than 8 inches in the final week or so to beat that, which definitely won’t happen–although 2012 will at least finish as one of the top ten wettest years regardless. In other words, very wet–just not historically wet!