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Forecasters say heavy rains are heading our way for the weekend as the Northwest braces for what's traditionally the wettest time of the year. (AP file)

Heavy rains heading for Washington

BY KIRO Radio Staff  on November 15, 2012 @ 7:29 am (Updated: 9:47 pm - 11/15/12 )

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Get out the Gore-Tex. The National Weather Service says a series of strong Pacific frontal systems are heading toward the Northwest and will bring heavy rains at times this weekend and into next week.

>>Check the forecast

Forecasters say the first storm will arrive late Friday night with strong winds. Rain is expected to continue through the weekend with another strong front on Sunday night and another on Monday night.

Rain totals in the Cascade and Olympic mountains could reach up to eight to 10 inches, while the lowlands and coast could get five to six inches of precipitation.

University of Washington Atmospheric Sciences Professor Cliff Mass writes on his blog that the last two weeks of November are typically the wettest period of the year, and this year won't disappoint.

Mass says a large, cold trough will form over the eastern Pacific, establishing a persistent flow of moist air from the west and southwest, from coastal BC through Washington down to northern California, with 5-10 inches common, and 10-15 inches of rain possible in northwest California. He says the storms could produce strong winds along the coast and offshore.

Kirby Cook, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, says the traditional spigot of storms that soak the Northwest during the winter months is turning on. He says forecasts for a "neutral" winter with neither El Nino or La Nina dominating means "Anything is game. We could have any kind of winter."

"As I think most Northwesterners know, certainly folks in Western Washington, we can get all kinds of weather as we move into winter. Certainly we're transitioning back into a very wet pattern in the next week or so," he says.

The rains also are expected to extend through Eastern Washington valleys well into next week. Forecasters say the storms will likely drop heavy snow in the mountains above 3,500 feet.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report

KIRO Radio Staff, Staff report
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Comments (4)


  • Add A Comment

  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    Welcome to the Pacific North Wet
    November 15, 2012 7:42 am
    We need to videotape this weather, and play it on 12-foot video screens at the airports and cruise ship terminals. Who knows how many thousands, or tens of thousands, of people decide to relocate here each year after a visit during our short period of almost perfect weather? One can draw a very inaccurate conclusion about our typical climatic conditions here between July 5 and about the end of September.

    We're already crowded enough. :-)

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CH wrote...
    chuck im new 2 the area . . . .
    November 15, 2012 8:05 am
    does it rain much in Tacoma?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • WAmovesRight wrote...
    @ CH....
    November 15, 2012 8:44 pm
    .... Ha, Ha, Ha... Hee, Hee, Hee... Ho, Ho, Ho... that right there is funny!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • longwayhome wrote...
    Chuck
    November 15, 2012 7:03 pm
    Reminds me of Emmett Watsons articles and comments on "Lesser Seattle" Most of the posters on this site probably don't remember him and his famous oyster bar near the waterfront. Then there was the cartoon about Cecil Seaddle, I'm not sure I got the spelling right but I would like to see someone check the archives on that character. Watson was a real character and a great contributor to the preservation of history about Seattle.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }