Expect a wet winter around Puget Sound
Oct 20, 2016, 10:48 AM | Updated: 12:40 pm
This map shows Washington among the states with higher than normal chances for a wetter winter. (NWS)
(NWS)
Expect plenty more morning commutes with heavy rain and standing water on the roadways around Puget Sound.
The National Weather Service says there’s a 33 and 40 percent probability that Washington will be wetter than normal this winter.
How La Nina 2016-17 will affect the Northwest
A map published by the Weather Service shows the increased probability of precipitation for several northern states. Oregon has equal chances of being drier or wetter. Montana has an approximate 50 percent chance of being wetter. Washington falls somewhere in between.
Thursday — and October in general — helped back up the idea that we will have a wet winter. The Weather Service reports that as of Wednesday, 6.19 inches of rain had fallen. The wettest October on record was in 2003 when 8.96 inches of rain fell. The heavy rain Thursday morning contributed to several crashes along the I-5 corridor.
Crash scene on SB 5 just after Broadway in Everett CLEAR to shoulder. Still lots of lights but all lanes open. HUGE delays from Arlington! pic.twitter.com/Q07V3ZPGMg
— WSDOT Traffic (@wsdot_traffic) October 20, 2016
A La Nina winter was predicted by the Weather Center. La Nina favors drier, warmer winters in the southern U.S. and wetter, cooler conditions in the north.
There is about a 50/50 chance that Washington will be cooler than normal, according to the Weather Service.
Ted Buehner with the Weather Service says the coming season will hold “active, hazardous weather.” That means snow, rain, wind, flooding, and landslides.
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